ROC4LIFE

Look who’s kicking off the new year with a bang. “Hi haters, I’m back off a hiatus,” proclaims Brooklyn boy AZ on a spanking new freestyle, “Genesis.”

AZ first entered rap consciousness with his stellar turn on Nas’ “Life’s a Bitch,” off 1994′s Illmatic. You might recall that Illmatic started with the aptly named intro, “Genesis,” which also featured AZ (That was him saying “Ayo Nas, pull down the shades man. Let’s count this money”). Here, AZ gets all nostalgic and aims to recapture the spirit of that era, dropping a torrent of nostalgic rhymes over the old school beat. “We gotta bring East Coast back,” he says.

There’s no word on where this freestyle will end up, but I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from the kid in 2013. He’s also working on Doe or Die II, the sequel to his 1995 debut. Hear AZ’s “Genesis” below.

— Rizoh