NEW VIDEO: Azealia Banks- Yung Rapunxel

Fearless, potty-mouthed rapper Azealia Banks dropped the visuals for her track 'Yung Rapunxel' from her long awaited debut album Broke With Expensive Taste. The Jam Sutton- directed video features  Banks giving a series of moody, pouty, knowing glances to camera as she performs the track. There's also a lot of weird eyeballs: red eyes, black eyes, eyeballs in hands, and the now imfamous, but always creepy, mouth-in-place-of-eyeballs image from the track's artwork. The film is loaded with cryptic artistc messages that are the subject of much speculation on social networks. Say what you will about Miss Banks but she knows how to create a buzz.

New Music: Azealia Banks- BBD

So, Azealia Banks kicks off the new year with new song 'BBD' (Bad B*tches Do It) we still await an album but she keeps us in suspense with interesting new stuff. This track produced by Apple Juice Kid and Sup Doodle gives us more of Banks' patented "Witch-Hop". Have a listen!




Gossip Note: As I write there is a Twitter beef going on between Azealia and Angel Haze. After Banks, rather territorially commented on people who falsely claim to be from New York, (They do that, presumably because it sounds a lot cooler than them saying they're from somewhere like Iowa). Anyhow, Haze took this as a personal jibe and so the back and forth began. Still not sure whether these tiffs between rappers, (especially female rappers) actually more harm than good!

Hot Right Now: Azealia Banks

 Azealia Banks is the newest female star on the scene and already she has come to represent a new brand of rebellion and fearlessness. The 21 year old New York rapper burst onto the music scene last year with her particular brand of Hip-Hop that she has described as "Witch-Hop". Her music combines elements of 90's House beats with quick-witted rap vocals. In late 2011 Banks released her debut single, 212. The sexually charged track is peppered with profanity. This resulted in limited airplay but did not stop the song charting inside the top 20 and becoming a dance floor favourite. We have come to recognise the commercial brand of fearlessness churned out by artists like Nicki Minaj or Rihanna. But Banks is not just going to don a studded leather jacket or extra short hot pants in the hopes that such style choices will be interpreted as an "I don't care" attitude. Having topped NME's 'Cool List' and received a nomination for the BBC's 'Sound Of 2012' it's clear that Banks is not style over substance but rather the substance of style.

    

Unlike most of the headline female artists in the industry at present, Banks is not heavily endorsed by a popular male Hip Hop artist. It's fair to note that the partnerships between Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne, Rihanna and Jay-Z, and even fellow rap newcomer, Iggy Azalea and T.I. have boosted the success of these artists. But Banks is doing her thing without the backing of a Hip-Hop heavyweight and for me; this makes her brand of fearlessness all the more authentic.

Her music addresses issues of youth, sexuality and otherness. There is a feminist current that runs through her work. Even in her styling she often takes inspiration from popular mythical female images such as genies and mermaids. These are creatures famed for being beautiful, mysterious and strong. She frequently refers to herself as the 'Liquorice Bitch’, a reference to her skin tone which is darker than most of the currently popular black females in the music industry. Banks is celebrating her difference and her otherness in obvious ways as well as subtle ways. Banks wants the world to know she is as a unique artist in every aspect and it’s refreshing to see an artist not afraid to be honestly outspoken in their music and style.


Azealia Banks' 1991 EP and Fantasea mixtape are out now.
Visit: www.azealiabanks.com
Twitter: @AZEALIABANKS