The album starts with a fitting intro where AZ and Nas ad-lib over a slow, ominous beat and discuss people who don't stay true to their roots and AZ affirms he's going all out to achieve his goals, and hence we get an explanation for album's title. Uncut Raw is the album's first track, and it's a banger. Produced by Loose, we get a head-noddable minimalistic beat with a murky drum loop, a low-key snare, diminutive keyboard notes and some gun shots riddled throughout the instrumental. The production sets the tone for AZ's thoughtful street-poetry, describing what he's seen in the ghetto and exactly why so many people turn to crime. There's no sugar coating here, along with his flawless spit-fire flow and intricate rhyme schemes, AZ simply tells it as he sees it. A great opener.

On the laid back Pete Rock produced Gimme Your's, full of lush strings, a lazy bassline, and some gentle trumpets, AZ drops more intelligent rhymes about surviving under less than optimal circumstances and the things he hopes to one day attain. Nas delivers a wonderfully catchy off-key hook and AZ's multi-syllabic flow is as impressive as ever on this track as his lyrics mesh perfectly with the beat: "Life's a performance so players play with endurance/ Cause from war sense, any villain's willing to get more intense/ They tried to break us but all it did was just make us/ Travel across acres for papers, bonafide money takers/ Cause though we know somehow we all gotta go/ As long as we're leaving thieving, we'll be leaving wit some kind of doe".

Perhaps the best track on the entire album, and my personal favorite, is Ho Happy Jackie. Produced by Buckwild, it features wonderful jazzy and up-lifting arrangement that rivals any hip-hop beat I've ever heard; it's one of those beats that could be classified as simply mesmerizing. As the title states, AZ tells a meaningful narrative about a girl who transformed from an intelligent and respected female to a girl who slept with any and everyone, and he warns all guys about these types of girls. Once again, AZ performs with such lyrical skill and class on the mic that it's hard to imagine that after Doe or Die he succumbed to everything he stood against - commercialism and selling out. Rather Unique, also produced by Pete Rock, is an old-school flavored bragadaccio track backed by a minimalistic but extremely entertaining beat.

Here AZ really unleashes a perfect blend of wordplay and multi-syllabic rhymes. I fully consider AZ to be just as good a lyricist as Nas is, and his lyrical ability doesn’t get any better than in this case. "So it's gonna take more than your astrologist to knowledge this/ A physiologist couldn't even figure out the exoticness/ Raps demolishing, certified the way I style it/ My wordplay blaze with the rays of ultraviolet/ My culture's smiling, getting more in depth with each breath/ For the biography follows the footsteps of Malcolm X".

Speaking of Nasir Jones, he joins his friend on the standout Mo' Money Mo' Murder (Homicide). Here both New York natives take a more Mafioso approach. With a slow and atmospheric bassline, violins and soft strings, the beat has a the perfect feel for Nas and AZ's articulate storytelling. The very relaxed and soulful beat on the title track Doe or Die compliments AZ's lyrics and subject matter very well. Lyrically complex and multi-syllabic as always, AZ explains growing up and why he's becoming the way he is. Instead of blaming his environment for the person he's become, he details events in the streets that have helped to mold him.

We Can't Win is a socially conscious track featuring two rather unknown guests. The three emcees drop excellent rhymes about their situation and how they believe conspiracies are involved. They touch on subjects ranging from Illuminati to the Newer Order to Big Brother. Other tracks such as Your World Don't Stop has AZ flexing his storytelling skills and getting rather introspective, discussing life in the projects trying to stay out of prison, and accumulating his fortune. Sugar Hill, the album's lead single, enlightens us with AZ's vision of a better world and what he hopes to accomplish in his life over a mellow beat complete with a female singer on the hook.

All in all, Doe or Die is everything AZ set out for it to be, and more. On this album he shows us he possesses the skills, mic presence and flow to become one of the greatest emcees of all time. With creative concepts and truly great production, there aren't many, if any, negative aspects about this album. Perhaps the Sugar Hill Remix is unnecessary, but it's still a solid track in it's own right. Otherwise, I suggest you go out and buy this album if you have not already done so, and enter AZ's world. It's a true classic hip-hop album, and every fan of the genre should own it.