Anthony Cruz (born March 9, 1972), better known as AZ is a Grammy-nominated American rapper of Dominican & African
American descent.He is known for being a long time and frequent rhyme partner of Nas, and also a member of hip-hop group The
Firm alongside Nas, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Nature. In a countdown of the 10 Most Underappreciated Rappers—Most
Underrated Rappers of All Time, the editors of About.com listed AZ as #1 onthe list. He was also included on About.com's list of
the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007), where he was described as "arguably the mostunderrated lyricist ever."
