inuborg 4,134 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 After riding the 212 hype to major label signing, before seemingly sitting in development limbo for two years, Azealia Banks was finally released from her contract with Universal earlier this month, freeing her to release the album we’ve all been waiting two years for. Today she releases a new single, Heavy Metal and Reflective, and it looks like we might finally hear an album that’s been five years in the making, and which she has been working on with producers as diverse as Lone and Ariel Pink, and the man behind Adele and Florence + The Machine, Paul Epworth. Any assumptions that she won’t be making an album like 21 are swiftly swept aside. “Why not?†she asks. “Adele’s got number one records.†Banks is after the big time, and the La Guardia performing arts graduate plans on getting there through more than rap alone. In fact, she’s not so sold on being a rapper at all. “Rap is so tacky when you think about it,†she says. “It’s a very masculine thing, you know? To be a female rapper is very kitsch.†Those of you who’ve attended one of Azealia’s live shows may even have been treated to an acapella of Amy Winehouse’sValerie or Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas (and spent the whole song wondering if it’s a wind-up). She’s seriously committed to her singing skills. “Having a musical theatre background, I’ve got a lot more class than just being a female rapper,†Azealia states. “I feel like I would be really selling myself short and really exploiting myself in a sense. It’s not what I want to do all the way.†A trained singer though she may be, Azealia better not go forgetting why people fell in love with her in the first place: her sometime quick-fire, sometime molasses-slow flow. Well, that and the scruffy pigtails, toothy grin, Mickey Mouse sweater and goofy dancing in 212, a video that cost $30 (“That was for chicken sandwiches and Coca-Cola!â€). It’s a song she wrote, “After firing my manager and lawyer and being dropped from my label [XL]. I was in a real depression. It made me want to disappear and I almost did. 212 was just a big **** you to everyone who said no and talked **** about me.†Whilst we’d be interested to hear Azealia going Adele-esque, what we’re really after is more mastery of the 212 ilk and further exploration of Azealia’s rap style. If Nicki Minaj is the Lil Kim of now, then Azealia is the Foxy Brown: chill, deep, s-xual and street-smart. Despite today’s Rihanna T-shirt (aping the style of a Nirvana tour tee), she’s not going to be pumping out material at the rate of everyone’s fave Bajan. “Rihanna has writers, so it’s easier for her to come out with things every year because she’s in a think tank, you know? I’m sure she is enjoying her nice money and her nice hair and body products. You know, nice perfume and expensive shoes and I’m pretty sure she’s enjoying her life.†This almost comes off like RiRi resentment, before the praise pours forth. “I love her because she’s young, she’s rich, she’s beautiful. She’s not frantic about anything. She’s not trying to pretend. She’s like, ‘Yeah, so I get my songs written? So what, b---h? You wish you got your songs written. I’m making money.’†Azealia admires the authenticity of RiRi, proudly wearing the badge of mass-produced pop, adding, “Authenticity is definitely part of things I like.†When later quizzed about what ‘cool’ means to the girl who topped the NME Cool List back in 2011. “Anything that seems fake, or anything that seems like a lie, or anything that’s not the truth, I don’t like it,†she declares. Which is why she’s not sold on fellow female rappers Iggy Azalea and Kreayshawn. Iggy Azalea (“Where the **** did you get that name from, b---h?â€) is “some Australian girl who raps like a black girl. It’s kind of silly. Whatever, people are feeling it. She’s good-looking. I get it.†As for Kreayshawn… “When I was just following her on the internet I thought she was interesting and really kind of cool. I think it got to her head and got blown out of proportion and the next thing you know she’s dissing Rick Ross. Now she’s got that V-Nasty girl shouting the N-word trying to be controversial but offending people. This is gonna get you guys nowhere.†So how can white MCs cut the mustard? “Just be yourself, that’s really what it is. I mean I get it: black women are the strongest, most confident women in the world. Of course you want to emulate us. I get that. But at the same time, listeners will appreciate it more in the long run if you are just yourself. Eminem did it. He didn’t have to make a mockery of anyone. Beastie Boys did it. They didn’t have to make a mockery of anyone. If you want to treat it as an art form, then really treat it as an art form. Don’t use it as a gateway into a culture that you want to be a part of. Black culture is fun to the rest of the world and they all want to be a part of that, but there are certain things that are sacred to us and certain things that you will never be fully accepted into. That’s just my take on it.†Source I root for you. I love you. You, you, you, you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Didymus 32,701 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 "black women are the strongest, most confident women in the world" / "black culture" Oh boy. I admire her honesty, though. Gonna read it in full later. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClapDown 0 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
inuborg 4,134 Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Im surprised she gave iggy a compliment tho I root for you. I love you. You, you, you, you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monketsharona 44,543 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Shades again... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris777 112 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 surprised she didn't drag Rihanna Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael 533 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 I see. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALX 170 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 *insight Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris777 112 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 “I love her because she’s young, she’s rich, she’s beautiful. She’s not frantic about anything. She’s not trying to pretend. She’s like, ‘Yeah, so I get my songs written? So what, b---h? You wish you got your songs written. I’m making money.’†Stan a bit Azealia B! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcphee 1,778 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Okai... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SvenK 0 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 *sigh* why oh why did the music industry deserved her? Why oh why... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hecturr 1,921 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 not quite sure how to feel about this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koala 3 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 I love this part: “I love her because she’s young, she’s rich, she’s beautiful. She’s not frantic about anything. She’s not trying to pretend. She’s like, ‘Yeah, so I get my songs written? So what, b---h? You wish you got your songs written. I’m making money.’†But at the same time she's right and she's wrong. I don't blame her but I don't think it's cool to exclude people from some cultures just because the skin colour. You can clearly see that she's not racist because she even thought Kreayshawn was cool at first. I just don't agree in the Iggy thing But I love Azealia for this, she always has something to say + I love her twitter beefs, lmao everybody hates them but at least the girl has attitude, personality and is strong Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen 29,359 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 lmaooo I love her Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azor Ahai 18,861 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Honesty? All I see is being rude again and again for no reason. She has nothing else to offer than her rudeness and "honesty" so she keeps shading everyone to make them notice her. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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