''A.W.O.L.'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper AZ. It was released on September 6, 2005 via Fast Life Music.

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

was handled by

The Heatmakerz The Heatmakerz is the production brand for American music producer and writer Rsonist (Gregory Green). The Heatmakerz have been crafting the sound of New York since the early 2000s. Having worked with or influenced almost every artist in the city ...

, Baby Paul, Disco D,

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He has been frequently lauded as one of hip hop's greatest producers by publications such as '' ...

Emile Haynie Emile Haynie (born July 13, 1980), often credited simply as Emile, is an American record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, his range of production includes alternative rock, hip hop, indie and pop music. Haynie has worked with seve ...

, Frado, J-Hen, Jimi Kendrix,

Lil' Fame M.O.P. (short for Mash Out Posse) is an American hip-hop duo composed of rappers Billy Danze and Lil' Fame, best known for their song " Ante Up." The group has frequently collaborated with DJ Premier. The group is part of the Gang Starr Foun ...

MoSS Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

, Vinny Idol, Buckwild, DJ Absolut,

Tone Mason Tone Mason is a Canadian hip-hop and R&B production team from Toronto, Ontario, composed of Mellenius, Don D, and formerly, Aloysius Brown. They have contributed their music to MuchMusic & MuchVibe (theme music for The Vibe, The Downlo), Barbers ...

and Young Calvin. It features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from Begetz,

Bounty Killer Rodney Basil Price OD (born 12 June 1972), known as Bounty Killer, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. AllMusic describes him as "one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the '90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant fl ...

Ghostface Killah Dennis David Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang ...

Half a Mill Jasun Wardlaw (April 6, 1973 – October 22, 2003) better known by his stage name Half a Mill, was a Brooklyn-based American rapper. Career Half a Mill was considered an underground rapper in the early 1990s. His mainstream breakthrough cam ...

, Noe,

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon ( ), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of the ...

and

CL Smooth Corey Brent Penn Sr. (born October 8, 1968), known by his stage name CL Smooth, is an American rapping, rapper. He is best known as the vocal half of the hip-hop duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth. Early life Corey Brent Penn Sr. was born on October 8, 1 ...

. In the United States, the album peaked at number 73 on the ''Billboard'' 200, number 17 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

, number 10 on the

Top Rap Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

and number 5 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...

charts. The album was supported with four 12" promotional singles: "Serious" b/w "Live Wire", "AZ's Chillin" b/w "Never Change", "The Come Up" b/w "Magic Hour" and "Still Alive" b/w "New York".

Background

The album was recorded after '' Final Call'', which AZ declined to release because his label had pushed its release back two months—according to him, they were also the source of its early leak to the press and the internet. Garnering critical praise with production from highly regarded New York underground acts such as DJ Premier, Buckwild, and

DipSet The Diplomats (also known as Dipset) were an American hip hop collective formed in the summer of 1997 by childhood friends Cam'ron and Jimmy Jones in Harlem, New York City. The group was originally composed of Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Freekey Ze ...

production duo the Heatmakerz, the rapper abandoned his previously money-oriented subject matter, stating that he "wanted it to be all street". ''A.W.O.L.'' is the first album AZ released on his own Quiet Money Records imprint. ''A.W.O.L. 1.5'' was released several months later, which included a bonus disc featuring

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

and

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

versions to the songs on ''A.W.O.L.''.

Track listing

;Notes *Tracks 13, 14 and 15 are one continuous bonus track 13. All the 3 tracks are available separately on '' Final Call (The Lost Tapes)'' album.

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:AWOL 2005 albums AZ (rapper) albums Albums produced by MoSS Albums produced by Disco D Albums produced by Buckwild Albums produced by DJ Premier Albums produced by Tone Mason Albums produced by Emile Haynie Albums produced by the Heatmakerz