AZ - Pieces Of A Man

[CharlesJones]

Chungsanity you make me laugh hahahahahahahahahahahaha. You said most of the songs on Pieces Of A Man are wack LOL. I feel you. LOL@Benzo saying How Ya Livin is one of the worst songs on the album. I'm laughing at you because you think The Birth with The RZA is a better song than How Ya Livin. Some of ya'll dudes opinions about rap music is terrible. Most of ya'll don't know what a good beat is LOL. That's why so many of ya'll like these wack albums because ya'll like wack beats. Canibus's fans make me laugh because they're always praising his albums talking about how good they are when all of his albums suck to me because of bad beats.

[BRONZBODY]

not his best album(aziatic imo) but not his worst(9 lives)

[benzo]

Chungsanity you make me laugh hahahahahahahahahahahaha. You said most of the songs on Pieces Of A Man are wack LOL. I feel you. LOL@Benzo saying How Ya Livin is one of the worst songs on the album. I'm laughing at you because you think The Birth with The RZA is a better song than How Ya Livin. Some of ya'll dudes opinions about rap music is terrible. Most of ya'll don't know what a good beat is LOL. That's why so many of ya'll like these wack albums because ya'll like wack beats. Canibus's fans make me laugh because they're always praising his albums talking about how good they are when all of his albums suck to me because of bad beats.

Damn boy...I've tried to have mercy on you in the past but fuck that. You're just a dumbass, point blank. LOLing at someone's opinion?? The Birth smashes How Ya Livin IN MY OPINION. Guess you'd rather listen to Nas and AZ slow dance around that faggot-ass beat instead AZ and RZA ripping shit over a real hip-hop banger? Go on with it then kid...

[tymoney]

this is a fuckin classic az dont have one wack album they're all ill

[tymoney]

My favorite album i'm a big AZ fan you know love this album from beginning to end

co sign

[zooruka]

yo the payback is an ill track.


peace

[kwabena1041]

The essence of DOPENESS!!!

[tymoney]

anybody saying this joint is less than 10/10 is buggin 4 real

[RynMur]

I think the album sucked because the beats sucked. For some reason AZ makes boring albums. He's always been a tight mc but i don't like most of his beats. His fans say his first album is a classic but i disagree with that. That album is boring too. He had a few good cuts on Doe Or Die album i liked like Sugar Hill, Mo Money Mo Murder with Nas, Ho Happy Jackie. Gimme Yours remix that Erick Sermon produced is better than the album version. Only album i like by AZ is 9 Lives. Problems and Quiet Money TBS are my favorite joints on that album. What's the name of the song on 9 Lives that samples Styles P's voice saying i don't give a fuck what you spit, who you are, who you with and who the hell you can get? I like that song. I was very disappointed in AZ's last album AWOL. That album sucks too. I won't be buying his albums anymore.

co muthafuckin sign. How ya livin is the only classic song on the album, and 2 other decent tracks are pieces of a black man and last dayz. the rest were just straight up wack. smh @ sosa's failed career. I was lenient enough to give it a 6/10. shouldve gave it 1/10 after second thoughts.

haha ya serious? 3 good songs and 12 wack songs? Remind me to never take album recommendations from you two.

AZ is a nearly perfect with his lyrics. some beats are lackluster, but still above average. This is my second favorite album from AZ behind Doe or Die.

[Wh0am3ye?]

Album was better than the ones released after, in my opinion. Last dayz was a nice song.

[claaa7]

this album is banging, just like "Doe or Die" was the equivallent to "Illmatic"; "Pieces of a Man" is the equivallent to "It Was Written". matter of fact this was one of those albums i kinda dismissed on the first few spins but it kept growing on me with each listen as i understood what he was going for. there was a major change in east coast hip-hop between 1994 and 1996 and both "Doe or Die" and this LP captures the essence of that sound in a brilliant way.

It is not as good as his debut, but it was released after The Firm album and it's alot better than that imo. Lyrically AZ once again proves that he is one of the top MC's in the game (altho hardly mentioned as one), he got a memorable voice, a very smooth flow and delivery and he's a master at writing lyrics. there's room for both introspective joints, third person mafia narratives and first person street stories on "Pieces of a Man" so it's a very well-rounded album lyrically.

that leaves us the production, which is what turned me away from the record a bit initially, but over the time i realized how well most of these beats actually fit AZ and where he was at in 1996. gone are Pete Rock, Buckwild and Erick Sermon who dominated the sounds of '94 and instead AZ has, just like Nas did, turned to Trackmasters for production and consultant. now this is a very underrated production duo, they got countless classics under their belt and their production here are hard and multi-layered yet commercially (for that time) appealing, a style which meshes well with AZ's smooth flow. "What's The Deal", "Sosa" and "Pieces of a Black Man" are great examples of this. I also love the intro which samples the classic "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone which turns into the beautiful "It's A New Day Into" which marks AZ's feeling on "Pieces of a Man" as a fresh start in the game.

Other producers on the disc handles thing just as well, a duo that goes by Goldfingha and Gucci Jones which i never heard about before or after produces a large amount of the album and prove to be just as worthy as the bigger names on the disc. The afromentioned "Intro", "Payback" and "Love is Love" are good examples. L.E.S. drops by for two tracks, the only producer who was on both this and "Doe or Die" - the songs don't have a D.O.D. vibe but vibes nonetheless.

Two of my favorite songs come at the end of the album - every Wu-Tang fans wet dream (LOL), "Whatever Happened (The Birth)" which has AZ and RZA trading mind-provoking bars over a rugged '98 RZA beat is followed by Nashiem Myrick's (one of the most underrated producers ever imo), "Trial Of The Century" which is a great story provided by A.

now that is all good and well to have the album end on a good note like that but for some reason an additional song called "Bet'cha Don't Know" is included which just straight up SUCKS. well, you can always turn the CD off before that BS starts and it really doesn't lower the worth of the album much. definitely pick up this album if you're an AZ fan.

4/5

[CharlesJones]

LOL@Benzo and Tymoney hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.