New AZ documentary

4:27 PMIn the mid-’90s, there was so much incredible talent coming out of the New York hip-hop scene that even the best artists have lived complete careers as effectively “underrated.” AZ is one of those guys. As part of its #20YrsLtr series, BET released a mini-documentary last week called “Doe or Die: Heartbeat of a Classic.” The half-hour film takes you back to East New York, Brooklyn where the man née Anthony Cruz, but known simply as “A,” was reared as an emcee.

What makes this an appealing watch is not so much revisiting the old days, although the footage of shows at the Apollo Theater and stories of a young A being awed at a Stetsasonic show as a kid (Daddy-O would later become a mentor) are heartwarming, but hearing the respect he has from other artists of his era and how it still holds today. AZ himself also gives you an in-depth look at his approach to his craft and breaks down exactly how some of the more popular tracks on the album Doe Or Die came to fruition.

His signature hit, “Sugar Hill,” went gold for EMI Records, with the entire album eventually reaching platinum status on its own. Before Doe or Die, AZ burst on to the scene on Nas’ “Life’s A B—-,” from the 1994 album Illmatic with a verse and hook that no one will forget where they were the first place they heard it.

A’s style as a Brooklyn head is still impeccable. At 44, he looks like he could step into any cypher to this day and body it. “AZ knew how to spit it, and talk about that life, like a book author,” Nas said of his one-time-partner-in-rhyme’s flow. “He was that well written.”

With a zillion biopics about this era of music littering the scene, an extended feature of a rapper who falls somewhere between beloved and forgotten for casual fans — and was a definite game-changer — is welcome.