The first sentence of the Doe Or Die press kit boasts, "On Doe Or Die, AZ delivers one of the strongest debuts in Hip-Hop history." In an early advertisement, Nas shares, "It's the new renaissance. He's demonstrating life through poetry in its most modern form and his style is unfaded and unlimited. It's the ancient voice from Africa, from Asia, and from Europe: the lost souls of America. His voice is the lost souls..." Vibe reviewed the album saying, "AZ takes refuge inside the rhythmic walls of creation. He emerges as a scholar of ghetto sociology and a master storyteller who reports the realities of the day with frontline precision." Speaking to The Source about lyricism, AZ says, "Anytime you listen to my music, you will get some kind of jewels out of it, 'cause what I say for five minutes could last for five years. That's how I pump. So, lyrics mean a lot to me. I need something to touch me, man." I think AZ shortchanged his impact when he said 5 years, as it's now over 2 decades later, but I understand what he meant. In Elements magazine he took it a step further on lyrics, "I bring life to mics, I bring life to existence. I paint pictures into people's head, food for thought." I agree with all of these quotes, if that's not obvious. I've also argued in the past about "Sugar Hill" and "Rather Unique" being one of the better A/B side 12" releases, and if you include the Erick Sermon, RZA, and Buckwild remixes onto Doe Or Die, it's an even more epic debut album release! Doe Or Die was released on October 10, 1995 - revisit the album below...
The original sticker and press kit sent for AZ's Doe Or Die...
