When I was in high school, in 2002, that's when I got my first job. I was 17 years old and busy playing sports such as wrestling, and weighlifting, as well as juggling a side job as well while looking at colleges and getting priorities in order. I used to cut school on occasion to play games at the arcade from time to time, and I wrote a few of my poetry collections back then. I channeled a lot of my inner rage and frustration into my poems, and my teacher- who Magnum Opus is dedicated to, used to keep me fired up about that passion and encourage me. He himself was a fan of Eminem and used to break down and analyze the depth in his lyrics and other literary works. In fact, that was the nature of that course he taught.
Late in that year of 2002, I remember watching MTV and VH1 when I was home from school, and looking for the eclectic music to pop up that I appreciated more. Almost every day, the music video for, "I'm Back"- the first single from the album, would play on TV, and I liked it so much, I would wait to see if they'd play it again before the end of the music segment. It wasn't played a lot, but I knew I wanted to hear more. Even though, I worked, I have to admit that I tended to be a bit cheap at times. There was a bootleg man that came to the Chinese food store by our house at that time. You had to be intuitive to catch him. One day, while me and my brother were in there, perhaps scamming the restaurant, he came along, and I made off like a bandit, because all I probably paid for was a bootleg copy of Aziatic. Of course I'm telling on myself here, but it's funny anyway. See, during those days, mostly back in my earlier teens, my parents would lock this door at the bottom of the staircase that connected our basement from the rest of the house. They did this because they felt we were going through the kitchen too much during the night hours. Basically, we were locked out of the house at night. In fact, when I think back, it was somewhat cruel. If we needed anything, which we often did, it was too bad until the morning came. I took advantage of this though, and pretty much hung out as long as I wanted during those days. The only thing is that I had to make sure that my brother was there to open the door leading outside from the basement into the back of the house. Otherwise, my parents would leave me out there for punishment. What we would do for years is go to the Chinese food store during what we lovingly called "Lock Down on cell block 99," at night, and order a couple of items. We would go outside and walk around to the other stores until the order was ready. When it was time to pick up our order, one of us would go in quickly as if in a rush, and tell them that we had paid already. With the heavy business that they got, it worked like a charm. I'm not sure when we stopped doing that, but I do recall that the restaurant, and perhaps many Chinese food store chains changed their policy completely because of us. In time, we couldn't pull it off anymore, and it was LOL hilarious the day we got ultimately caught. It was an awkward moment with a store full of people. and almost like a scene from COPS. I'll talk about that later maybe.
Anyway, when I got the album, I went home and listened to it over and over. I liked it a lot. There were a few tracks that were favorites of mine, and the others I skipped occasionally. It wasn't until I went to College that I heard more of him. One of my classmates in Xray school was a hip-hop and Kung-fu fanatic. He put me on to a lot of things. He let me hear a lot of underground rappers who I enjoyed. I also go to hear some of AZ's greatest hits album. I've lost alot of the music he gave me. We used to sit down and talk about lyrics and art for hours after and before class. He pretty much took me under his wing. It was during those college years that I was getting more lyrical myself and did most of the writing for my first album- "Pariah." I entered a bunch of National Poetry Contests during those 2 years, and used to collaborate with a friend at the time, doing mixtapes and recordings in another friend's basement. We discussed AZ and Nas, as well as Common, Mos Def, and many other rappers who were sidestepped for not being mainstream. I really didn't see yet how much I related to AZ. I just knew he felt familiar. Around the time I got the album in 2002, a best friend of mine came to visit, and talked with me for hours upon hours about how much he loved and appreciated the endless treasures that were AZ's lyrics- not in those words. That visit stuck in my mind, because it not only reinforced my love for his music, but kept me thinking about the album over the years.
After graduating from X-ray school, I went through a phase of downloading a lot of music online. I got a lot of Cassidy, as well as AZ material that I hadn't heard. I also had a Wu-Tang cassette album that I got from my brother that had the song, "Whatever Happened," on it. That was a collab between AZ and RZA. It was a song I would quote for years, in fact I still recite AZ's verse from time to time. It was that verse that opened me up to who he really was as an artist. It wasn't until after my first album was done as well as more work, that I realized that he and I shared a very similar writing style. We both waste no words. In so few words, AZ can paint an entire story and say so much, and I found that I had that same affinity as an artist. And it wasn't a copy-cat thing. The same way it used to bother me when people ragged on Kobe as an imitation of Jordan, when in truth, he just had a similar style by nature. The thing about writing like that, is that it can take years before what is said is appreciated. It was all of those years later, that i went back and listened to the Aziatic album in silence without skipping tracks, and was speechless, just the way I was when I first took home and listened to "Pariah," after I finished it. The only difference is that after "Pariah," I was in tears. He says so much on that record in tiny places, that you wonder how you missed all of that. Just phrases like, "Freedom at death," stick out in your mind as one of the few phrase bombs that are quotables in themselves. I would go on to do that myself, and I always credited AZ with inspiring that to a degree.
"The Focus is back. I play a part in this culture of rap, plus I'm real, so I relate on how these voters attack.." - I'm Back
"Gucci slippers, who can diss? 40 deuce movie pictures. What other way but poetically can I prove these scriptures? Drugs sold em'. Cars rode em'. Gun near my scrotum. Got locked. Got right out. Gave what I owed em." - Wanna Be There
"I stay in tune with the stars, sun, and the moon. Cause behind bars you're doomed if your mind can't consume. Plus spiritual pain can bring forth physical reign. And without knowledge of self, how else can a criminal change?" - Your World Don't Stop
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