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Azealia Banks featuring Lazy Jay - 212
Given that the above video already has 500,000 views, and a quick google search shows that Pitchfork and Fader have already cemented her reputation among the hipster set, I'm clearly late to the game when it comes to Azealia Banks. Equal parts Nicki Minaj, M.I.A., and Trina wrapped up in a slightly unsettling, but clearly intentional, jailbait package, Banks is Exhibit A for why I will never allow my daughter (should I ever have a daughter...) to listen to any hip hop beyond Queen Latifah (and possibly Jeru the Damaja for his fashion advice).
Much of the coverage on Azealia up to this point has made a point of mentioning that she has yet to sign a record deal, but she's doing shows overseas, and has already scored a feature on a Major Lazer song. So clearly she has some management team backing her, and it leads me to wonder how much of this over-sexed, not-quite-underaged image (yes she's 19, but with the pig tails, daisy dukes and Mickey Mouse sweater, the only thing she's missing is a lollipop to complete the Lolita effect) is actually her own creation. I'm all for female empowerment, but if there's some middle-aged major label record exec behind this it would be unseemly to say the least. I mention this while also acknowledging some level of hypocrisy on my own part, as a 19 year old girl rapping about explicit sex bothers me, yet a lot of the hip hop albums that I consider classics (Infamous, Illmatic) are filled with equally explicit depictions of violence and were written by rappers of the same age. I suppose that's the bias of my patriarchal world view creeping in.
According to her bio, the Harlem born Banks first started out as a child performer in off Broadway shows before turning to rap. I have no doubt she'll have an easier time paying the bills as a barely legal emcee spitting incredibly explicit lyrics like the following:
Azealia Banks - L8R
12/1/2011 6:30:00 PM posted by Fresh