Kleine Story zu Do or Die
From Chicago, this trio of rapid spitting clever rhyming rappers named Do Or Die hit the scene, now the members names being AK 47, Belo Zero, & Nard. Now AK was the one with the out of control rapid spitting flow that just caught the ears of the listeners, Nard being the deep voiced smooth typed rapper with a very fierce rapid flow to go along with it, and Belo Zero was the fast spitting smooth talker that would not only surprise you by doing a love/pimp type ballad but a hardcore in your face song as well.
Their first album Picture This(Do or Die was supposesdly their first but it was basically Picture This) was released on Neighborhood/Rap A Lot, and that album was a mixture of smooth pimp music and hard hitting rhyming and dark beats. The album really surprised people in that they weren't expecting this trio out of Chi to rap like this and make such a professional sounding album, their first single was called Po Pimp and featured than none other than Twista, but this isn't about Twista, this is about Do Or Die. The best tracks on Picture This are "Promise", "Po Pimp", "Shut Em Down", & "Alpha & Omega".
In 1998 a buzz was circulating around Do Or Die, as Rap A Lot got a little more larger during the "Southern" stage of 1998. This Midwestern group put out an album called Headz Or Tailz, an album that you could tell they have grown musically and were a more cohesive unit. "Still Po Pimpin" was the single and featured yet again Twista, the song was much better than the first but didn't quite get to the popularity the first one got to. The album also featured a rugged and ruthless(pun intended) diss to Bone Thugs N Harmony, the track was called "Bustin Back" and featured LiL Chilla of The Snypaz. Headz Or Tailz may be their best album to date and despite the goofy looking cover art, it is an album to behold.
Then after Headz Or Tailz they released Victory, an album which was semi-odd in that they tried to take a different approach but still ended up as the same Do Or Die they always were(If that makes sense). The single was the atrocious "Can U Make It Hot", a single which was just not Do Or Die, it was absolute garbage, but they overshadowed that with some pretty good tracks on Victory, one being the title track "Victory" which basically cemented them into Chi town status and not only that but Rap A Lot status as well. After 2 years they released Back 2 The Game, an album that focused more on their pimp status and only had a few hard tracks on it, one being "I Got A Problem", a pretty good track about having problems with haters and so forth, this was in fact their worst album and I for sure thought they'd be sinking further down the proverbial "crap tank".
Then they released Pimpin Ain't Dead, an album which is bar none their best to date, forget Headz Or Tailz(Well don't forget it, it is a great album), this was their best album. This album was a perfect mixture of pimpish ways and hardcore rhymes and they even got a single playing on the radio(Good for them).
No matter how you slice it, Do Or Die are an overlooked trio of rappers, they each have their own unique style yet they feed off each other perfectly. I'd recommend you to atleast check out some of their material.
www.thelegionrecords.com