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Critic Reviews
80
“I Am The Truth” sets the tone for the entire album – there aren’t many dudes out there that spit with so much passion, and with such a raw east coast flavor.
11y
70
The indie antidote doesn’t much matter when you’ve got in-demand dudes like Alchemist and Just Blaze actually making incredible beats-beats that would gladly welcome a weathered hard-head like AZ. So how fitting that the title track, a pairing with DJ Premier, just about crushes anything else on the album: in the right space, with the right people, the format takes care of itself.
10y
60
The layout is familiar—dense couplets and soulful soundbeds—this go round, which has its merits, but also plenty of liabilities.
11y
55
It’s not that The Format is a big step backwards from last year’s solid A.W.O.L., it’s just that it reeks of lessons unlearned and left to rot.
11y
20
AZ’s flow is as bog standard as bog standard gets, and the beats (mostly compiled by Emile, M.O.P.’s Lil’ Fame, and J. Cardim) don’t do much to save them either.
11y
Pretty dope album. AZ has amazing flow and charisma, is a great lyricist, and the production on this album is pretty good. There are a few skips on the album (mainly the poppy ones) but overall it's just a dope new york project.
Favorite tracks: I am the truth, sit em back slow, make me, animal, this is what I do, the format, game of life
The Format is by far AZ's best solo song and the rest? Well it's enjoyable. 12 year old me loved this album to death.
Quite possibly AZ's greatest aside from his debut album. While his previous album, AWOL, was still a good project, this album is leaps and bounds ahead of it. Where AWOL suffered from hit or miss production, this album has amazing production throughout, with the exception of Doing That.
Songs like I Am The Truth, Make Me, Royal Salute and the title track are literally just as good as some of the better tracks off Doe or Die, and coming a whole 11 years later that's impressive to say the ... read more
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Track List
| 1 | I Am The Truth 3:59 | 85 |
| 2 | Sit 'Em Back Slow 3:48 feat. M.O.P. | 83 |
| 3 | Get High 3:06 | 82 |
| 4 | Make Me 3:09 | 88 |
| 5 | Games 3:50 | 86 |
| 6 | Rise and Fall 4:10 feat. Little Brother | 85 |
| 7 | Animal 3:48 | 82 |
| 8 | Doing That 4:07 feat. Jha Jha | 57 |
| 9 | This Is What I Do 3:18 | 90 |
| 10 | The Format 3:03 | 97 |
| 11 | Vendetta 3:14 | 84 |
| 12 | Game of Life 4:06 | 89 |
| 13 | Royal Salute 2:20 | 90 |
Total Length: 45 minutes
