Record Reprot:
Azealia Banks
1991 EP
Azealia Banks may see herself as a pragmatic youngster above the fray, but due to some unpopular remarks she made towards veteran rapper T.I. and rival femcee (and former Interscope signee) Iggy Azalea, the Harlem bred rapper/singer has already found herself on the wrong side of public opinion. With likeability already a bump in her road to success, another challenge she faces is proving she’s more than a one hit wonder. Her song “212” put her on the map, amassing 17million views on YouTube and climbing with the #3 spot on UK’s R&B and #12 on UK’s Singles charts, respectively. Now, she plans on making a bigger splash on the home front with a series of releases starting with the 1991 EP. The 4-track introductory offering serves as a teaser to her upcoming mixtape, Fantastic, due out in July, which should further a buzz that will culminate with the release of her debut album Broke with Expensive Taste, later this year.
The EP starts off strong with the title track “1991.” The infectious high-tempo melody goes well with Banks’ foul-mouthed rhymes, allowing her to simultaneously show off her singing ability as well as her rapid fire flow over an energetic track ripped right out of the 90s club scene. Uttering rhymes like “Baby I recite in the raw the appetite for life and the hunger for the more,” Azealia epitomizes the EP as whole.
Banks cares little for euphemisms and chooses for the more raunchy style when she says “Caught the warm goo in your du-rag too, son” and the repeated phrase “I guess that cunt getting eaten!” on “212.” “Van Vogue” gets overshadowed by the more complete tracks, as the song relies heavily on sounds and Azealia’s ramblings.
The song “Liquorice” is an ode to Banks’ ebony skin, as she often refers to herself as the “Liqourice B***h” throughout the song. The confident 21-year-old courts the opposite sex (and sometimes her very own) as she runs gleefully throughout the song with lines like “Cause it’s gon’ erupt when ya slip in betwixt that black snatch.”
What Azealia excels at is keeping her aggressiveness while maintaining the sexual aspect in her lyrics, a balance most female rappers fail to achieve. Her repeated use of the word “cunt” and constant innuendos for the human crotch, both male and female, keep the sexuality intact while delivering raw and catchy rhymes that grab the listener’s attention. Impressively, the effort given to each of the songs by the proud New Yorker translates into an overall great commencement for new fans, and there will be many.
I hope you enjoyed this review of Azealia Banks’ 1991 EP. My name is Argenys Collado and this is TheSource.com.
