AZ releasing "Doe or Die:15th Anniversary Edition" to hold fans over until sequel

AZ, the legendary rapper who had the only guest appearance on Nas' debut Illmatic, was supposed to release the sequel to his own debut, Doe or Die 2, before 2010 was over. But an anniversary edition of the original album is what fans will get instead.

AZ will still come out with the sequel, which will be all-new material. The hold-up is being caused by a common culprit that most rappers can't avoid: looking for a new label. He's announced that it will definitely be released in 2011, and that recording will be completed by the time that year is here.

What he's releasing on November 23, Doe or Die: 15th Anniversary Edition, is for the purpose of keeping new music coming out, he said. The album will consist of at least four completely new tracks, and around six of the originals from Doe or Die. The originals will have new beats, some having new verses and some having the original ones, with AZ "spitting them again." He said that some of the originals that will appear on the anniversary edition include the classics "Sugar Hill" and "Rather Unique."

Some producers who are on board for Doe or Die 2 include Pete Rock and Boston-native Statik Selektah. AZ announced last year that he was looking to have Kanye West and Dr. Dre work with him on the album, but it hasn't been confirmed if either of them will come through.

Read a whole Q+A session with AZ about the albums on hiphopdx.com.

I've been way more excited about Doe or Die 2 all year than I am about the anniversary CD now, but it sounds like the re-release will still definitely be worth listening to. AZ is showing loyalty to his fans by putting this out, and I can tell that he's really eager to get the sequel out and wants it to be as good as he can make it. He put out two mixtapes last year, G.O.D. (Gold, Oil and Diamonds) and Legendary, which both had some really solid tracks, especially "Bonafied."

I saw AZ and Cormega live at the Middle East in Cambridge last year, and it was the best hip-hop show I've been to by far (even though I need to get that number up, compared to the rock shows I've been to). They were both originally in Nas' supergroup The Firm, and yet they're both definitively underground, but that only makes it more exciting to be one of their fans.

This is a song slated to be on Doe or Die 2. AZ is looking official with the cigar in this video.