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Forum nameThe Lesson
Topic subjectAZ - Doe Or Die 2 (9/10/21)
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=3034516
3034516, AZ - Doe Or Die 2 (9/10/21)
Posted by Anonymous, Thu Sep-09-21 09:04 PM
Album drops at midnight.

1. “Conversation Wit God” Feat. Idris Elba (Prod. P Soul)
2. “Just For You” (Prod. Bink!)
3. “The Wheel” Feat. Jaheim (Prod. Kaygee)
4. “Rep the Real” (Prod. Baby Paul)
5. “Never Enough” Feat. Rick Ross (Prod. Baby Paul)
6. “Different” (Prod. A One Beats)
7. “The Ritual” Feat. Lil Wayne & Conway The Machine (Prod. The Alchemist)
8. “Bullet Proof” (Prod. Bink!)
9. “Get Money” Feat. Dave East (Prod. Buckwild)
10. “Check Me Out” Feat. Pete Rock (Prod. Pete Rock)
11. “What’s Good” Feat. T-Pain (Prod. Rockwilder)
12. “Time to Answer” (Prod. Heatmakerz)
13. “Found My Niche” (Prod. Czarface)

Just 4 You (video)
https://youtu.be/O2uCEsGUvYE

The Wheel (video)
https://youtu.be/68Ixf3xnrvU

Different (video)
https://youtu.be/Zk5KXT8GDV0

The Ritual (audio)
https://youtu.be/wjuV53vB-1k

Found My Niche (video)
https://youtu.be/ZTzHk1mP3wY

Let’s go!
3034517, RE: AZ - Doe Or Die 2 (9/10/21)
Posted by Mgmt, Thu Sep-09-21 09:46 PM
I can’t wait for this shit
3034518, Excited for this.
Posted by Brew, Thu Sep-09-21 10:58 PM
Glad to see Bink! getting some work.

ALso glad to see T-Pain getting some love. Sounds like he's had a rough several years, undeserved.

I am sad tho, that AZ and Nas haven't collaborated as much as they should. I don't want them to force it obviously but as time quickly goes on I wish we got more collabs out of them. They've obviously always worked well together.
3034522, I thought this was a post about the 1st album.
Posted by LeroyBumpkin, Fri Sep-10-21 09:16 AM
My reply was gonna be on "Rather Unique".

Anyway, I'm excited about this.

Did anyone see this post from 9th Wonder asking to work with AZ?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTnfx-JgeCz/?hl=en
3034525, Haha yea - the title, as always w/"sequel albums," is fucking stupid.
Posted by Brew, Fri Sep-10-21 10:26 AM
Old rappers need to stop doing this.
3034526, 100%
Posted by Oak27, Fri Sep-10-21 10:48 AM
Unless there is some theme/concept that separates the particular album from others that makes it unique and you are going to revisit it, there's no reason to make your album a sequel other than to just capitalize on the name recognition/value of the original.

The other exception is if it's a single producer album. I don't mind Nas calling his new album KD2 or Curren$y naming his Ski Beatz produced albums Pilot Talk X.
3034527, Agreed.
Posted by Brew, Fri Sep-10-21 11:01 AM
>Unless there is some theme/concept that separates the
>particular album from others that makes it unique and you are
>going to revisit it, there's no reason to make your album a
>sequel other than to just capitalize on the name
>recognition/value of the original.
>
>The other exception is if it's a single producer album. I
>don't mind Nas calling his new album KD2 or Curren$y naming
>his Ski Beatz produced albums Pilot Talk X.

I also don't mind creative twists like "Stillmatic," speaking of Nas. That worked because it was a callback to the original without officially being a "Part 2."

As you noted it's weak and lazy to just name an unrelated album "Part 2" just for the sake of capitalizing off the original album's popularity. Be creative.
3034541, I don't care
Posted by Johnny, Fri Sep-10-21 05:35 PM
It could be called Shitty Vomit Puck for all I care
As long as the music is good, who cares

I'm probably in the minority but I'll always put quality of music as number 1 to 10 in my list of concerns as far as an album release
3034560, Fair enough.
Posted by Brew, Sat Sep-11-21 11:02 AM
3034524, He needs better production..
Posted by My_SP1200_Broken_Again, Fri Sep-10-21 10:19 AM
..a few of these are OK ...but maybe take 9th up on that offer


3034545, RE: He needs better production..
Posted by spidey, Fri Sep-10-21 08:20 PM
Truth all around...damn, wanted more from the God...
3034586, Saw an article on Twitter today that 9th and AZ talked
Posted by DJR, Mon Sep-13-21 07:06 PM
I could see that being a good fit.
3034587, I fucking can’t stand 9th’s production
Posted by Anonymous, Mon Sep-13-21 07:23 PM
AZ would be going from cheap soulful/commercial to cheap underground/boom bap
3034548, I rocks wit it but…
Posted by Anonymous, Fri Sep-10-21 09:40 PM
I want to rocks wit it much more… smh

I don’t know if it’s the production or the engineering and mixing but for whatever reason he always seems to get cheap sounding expensive shit… if that makes any sense.

It’s like these joints are on the verge of going the beautifully lush zone but just come off low budget.

And on this go-round… I don’t even think they are because some of the production is great… but something just doesn’t seem right.

I think at times it’s the production and other times is the not-up-to-par singing on the hooks that makes it sound cheap.

AZ is on point as usual and is ultimately what I will give this repeat listens for.

I’ll run down my initial thoughts…

Where did this trend of getting Idris on you Intro start? Monch? Shit is kind of tired at this point.

Just 4 You is cool but it ain’t that slap you in the face opener that I wanted.

Also, what’s up with these producers that put their tag in the front of every beat? Does that shit lower the cost? I know it’s nitpicking but if I’m AZ, I don’t want the first track to open up with a producers tag. Shit is borderline disrespectful. Producers, the shit ain’t your album! I hated that shit on No Introduction from Nas’ Life Is Good too. Justice League comes on like it’s their project or some shit. Put the tag at the end of the last hook. Damn.

The Wheel is aight and we spoke about this one already. Jaheim is really wack on this shit, and after the recent news, AZ should replace his bum ass with someone like Bilal.

Keep It Real… this shit is dope as hell to me. I love the beat Baby Paul gave him here. This sounds like some vintage Doe Or Die shit. And I shouldn’t but I rocks wit that hook too.

Never Enough… I like the Ross feature. Good choice for this beat. This one really works and could be a single. Hook works here.

Different… another one I feel like I should like more than I do. Those drums are weak. And I feel like he should’ve gotten all household name producers on this joint. A spit 3 verse track with the hook just riding should’ve been given to Premier or someone.

The Ritual… I rock wit this. I feel it’s a bit of a slacker Alchemist beat but it works and I love the fact it’s a straight forward hard hip-hop joint. The Wayne feature is a good change up too.

Blow That Shit… Buckwild is absolutely the most underrated producer in hip-hop. This joint is absolute flames. The way his drums groove is second only to PR and truthful on this album, second to none. The hook really works… however, I could’ve done without the Dave East verse. His verse is cool but he should’ve just been on the hook. And you know why? Because this beat is begging for a Raekwon verse. And if we weren’t going to get a Nas feature… we needed a Raekwon feature to make up for it.

Bulletproof… again, I want to like it more than I do. I don’t think this one is B!nk’s fault. The singer just doesn’t work here. And it’s one of the few joints he spits 3 verses. Another issue I will speak on later.

Check Me Out… I needed to listen to this 3 times. Because this is not a worthy follow-up to Gimme Yours and Rather Unique and my initial feeling was disappointment. With that said, it is definitely dope but it did have a lot to live up to. And again… why only 2 verses!!!

Time To Answer… this one is dope but again, 2 verses just makes this seem like filler. Maybe this could’ve been the intro? But again, the producer stamp! Lol

Found My Niche… another dope track but ultimately the same issue as Time To Answer. It’s too short and comes off as filler or a b-side.

What’s Good… this is dope and should be the other single along with the Ross joint. T-Pain hook is great!

Overall, it just doesn’t live up to the title like people above said. There are too many two verse joints that come off as filler. The reason Cuban Linx 2 worked is because Rae actually went all out to match the atmosphere and the grandiose of his classic. AZ doesn’t try hard enough to script this after the original to have the title make sense.

Also, this has been 10+ years in the making. I get his rant on Time To Answer but if you’re going to take that long, there’s no reason not to have ALL bangers. Not to mention that throughout these 10+ years, we got enough drops for entire second album. And some of those joints should’ve been on here.

Feel My Pain
Nothin Move
The Calm
I’m Ill
Make Believe
My N*****
We Movin’
Red Magic
It’s Time
Back To Myself
I Excel
Save Them feat Raekwon and Prodigy

These joints could’ve easily been on this album.

And again, there’s nothing I dislike. I love that I can put the album in and play it straight through. But damn, I was hoping for more. You have to know that when you title an album Doe Or Die 2 and give people a Dave East feature instead of a Nas feature, you’re going to catch heat. There’s just certain calls you can’t make when executive producing an album like this.
3034563, Wish “Check Me Out” sounded fuller
Posted by DJR, Sat Sep-11-21 08:40 PM
I love the vocal sample and the drums. Really like the beat, but seems like it’s mixed too flat and quiet.

Really like the album though. AZ’s flow is still there. This is solid pretty much all the way through. “Keep it Real” is the only one I don’t care for.
3034564, Yeah the mix on Check Me Out is off
Posted by Anonymous, Sat Sep-11-21 08:54 PM
It sounds like it was recorded on a tape deck
3034567, AZ is the king of rapping over those early 80s R&B samples
Posted by Garhart Poppwell, Sun Sep-12-21 09:53 AM
and he's still as sharp as ever, which is a testament to his ability since he releases albums so far apart.

he's so good that I honestly didn't want to hear any of the guest spots. everytime I get to a guest verse I'm like "THIRD VERSE AZ!!!!!" because I want to hear him keep rapping.

nobody on this album is as good at rapping as he is and it shows, lyrically or in regard to being fly with it (this especially shows on Never Enough, Ross was a great choice for a song like that but AZ is both a better emcee and more naturally charismatic than Ross is).

none of this is a real knock on the album because I've had it on repeat all weekend, it's more of a commentary on just how damn good AZ is and this album proves it for better and for worse
3034574, Agreed
Posted by Anonymous, Sun Sep-12-21 07:37 PM
And let me make clear that my gripes are due to two things… my expectations and my thoughts of how I personally would’ve executive produced this album.

The album is dope as shit and AZ is in top form here.

Always has been one of my favorites from day one and honestly, if you don’t think he’s one of the best, then you don’t know MCing… plain and simple.

3034585, I get what you were saying about the mix too
Posted by Garhart Poppwell, Mon Sep-13-21 06:03 PM
it feels like the life was sucked out of the mix, it doesn't even sound lo-fi it's just not accentuating the music in the beats. like you said it makes the beats sound cheap at times, which is a shame because there's some really good music on here and the stuff that may not be up to par would sound tons better with a great mix.