In the past months artists from the 1990s have been back in the spotlight recently. Mixtape efforts from artists in the latter parts of the 1990s like Fabolous (Friday Night Freestyles) and Jadakiss (#T5DOA) have brought a renewed focus on lyrics and more East Coast beats. In the last two months, two stalwarts in hip hop are celebrating their 20th anniversaries. Last month, an event celebrating the 20th anniversary of Doe or Die was held in late month in Fresthetic in Brooklyn. As many hip hop enthusiasts will note, Doe or Die was a highly regarded album when it was first released in 1995. That year was big in hip hop with classic records coming from Mobb Deep (The Infamous), 2Pac (Me Against The World), Tha Dogg Pound (Dog Food), Big L (Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous) , Ol’ Dirty Bastard (Return of the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version), and GZA (Liquid Swords) just to name a few. AZ burst on the hip hop scene with his inspiring and raw verse on the song Life’s A Bitch from Nas’s classic album Illmatic. Since then he has built a steady catalog of good music for people looking for that classic New York style. AZ has always been part of the higher echelon of artists New York has produced. While he may have been overshadowed by some his peers, he is still highly regarded by his peers. The event was hosted by A-King of the Combat Jack Show. He said “it’s bugged out that its been 20 years since the release of AZ’s Doe or Die, timeless music from a timeless MC.” Since the announcement of the 20th anniversary of Doe or Die, AZ toured Europe in the summer to commemorate the event and was interviewed by BillBoard about anniversary.
This month, Duck Down Records also celebrated their 20th anniversary. A review of that concert took can be read here. Duck Down has been a legendary label within the hip hop community maintaining their identity and at the same time being able to change with the times. The label suffered a huge blow with the death of Sean Price, but the acts on the label as well as those affiliated with the label kept the tradition strong.
