Harlem born Azealia Banks is, in many respects bigger than her chosen profession as a rapper.
She’s argumentative, talented, racist, creative, disturbed, individualistic-there are endless adjectives and superlatives that can be lavished on the 25-year-old. She seems resolute on a path of self-destruction where forming enemies seems to come more easily than forming friends. Despite copious amounts of negativity, some created by her own hand the fact does remain that she is talented. Let’s not forget (as an additional point) that while there will be stories based in fact there will also be stories based in fiction.
So, to the point of this piece as we go Into The Vaults with one of her tracks. In truth, we could have chosen several tracks but we felt it was only right to go with the track that broke her to the masses, 212 which unbelievably came out in 2011 and featured Lazy J.
With its up-tempo, rolling introduction and dance energy it was of course going to be a hit but it was Azealia’s braggadocios, hard core verbals with that brutal and memorable line, ‘I guess that cunt gettin eatin’ that in truth captured everyone as she effortlessly flowed and sang that track into global notoriety. A simple video was charged with overt sexuality with close-ups of her voluptuous lips and implied female thuggery as Azealia exudes all the attitude of gunslinger in the old West. In some respects, the track laid wide open the character of Azealia Banks-she states she’s a bitch, she regales stories of ‘niggas’ who she thinks are punks and the persona created in that track is one who did (and does) polarise.
Currently Azealia Banks is relatively quiet even though she put out her most recent bit of material Slay-Z (2016) which featured production by names like Kaytranada.
Will she stay quiet…..unlikely?
While she is a divisive figure we all know that deep down we can’t wait to see her next instalment of abuse, creativity, bitchiness, verbal wars and so on and so on and so on………………………………….