On November 6, Azealia Banks finally dropped her debut album. We’ve been waiting for this album since she announced it in 2012; thankfully, it’s been worth the wait.
Azealia Banks burst forth onto the scene in December 2011 with the raunchy “212.” Lovers of hip-hop were instantly taken with her dirty and bold lyrics. We had a new emcee in our midst with a sharp tongue and a penchant for the word cunt. She’s released a few LPs since, but her record label battles and online feuds took over that initial buzz. Those of us still faithful to her were left with some subpar ventures (like ATM Jam) and no date for her debut album.
Broke With Expensive Tastes' debut took everyone by surprise. Azaelia dropped it on Thursday without any sort of fanfare, just a link on her Twitter.
BWET was worth it. At sixteen tracks, (six of those previously released, including “212”) the album is the perfect debut album to show off her skills. Her instantly recognizable spitfire style is back, but she also takes a chance to show off her singing abilities with songs like “Ice Princess” and “Gimme a Chance.” I’ve seen criticism from some sites about “Gimme a Chance,” but when she transitions to Spanish, I died. There’s no mistaking Banks’ Harlem background with a song like that. My only issue with the album is the mood jarring “Nude Beach A Go-Go.” It throws one for a 1960’s Beach Blanket Bingo sort of loop. But it wouldn’t be Azealia if she wasn’t jarring in some way.
All in all, the album delivers what Banks has promised. Let’s hope she doesn’t keep us waiting for another 2 years.
This story first appeared at Persephone Magazine, a daily blog focused on topics of interest for modern, intelligent, clever women.
