Azealia Banks - Broke With Expensive Taste
Broke With Expensive Taste
Azealia Banks
Tiger Rating: 6.5 / 10
Hip Hop / Urban / Dance / Dream Pop / Salsa
In yet another trend of the year, 'Broke With Expensive Taste' unexpectedly dropped this week, becoming the fourth surprise album released this year. TWO YEARS after it was initially slated for release. Damn Interscope. It may well have been the most anticipated album of the 00's, and many had given up hope of ever hearing it. Well, it's here now. And the pressure was always to live up to it's hype. In my opinion, it barely does unfortunately.
Already known for her cute, cool, fresh face, dimpled smile and unblievably sweary debut track '212' Azealia has been famous for ages now, with people lauding her very early on as the new Queen of Cool. All of that was assumption. No doubt she had mad skills with words, even if they were unecessarily foul, and the incessant beat of 212 continues to get you booty shaking at your desk whenever it comes on, but there was very little to go on. Though she's obviously straight out of NYC, her innovative, ecleftic mash up of sounds and styles ranks more in line with M.I.A. and Santigold. That would be all good if it remained as fresh and important as both M.I.A. and Santigold. It often does, happily. The opening four tracks range from trip hop, beaty raps, a bit of Spanish salsa and some spaced out urban jazz. Great start. Then we get to her first single, which is still as fresh, catchy and vile as ever. The next few tracks drift into bland mediocrity unfortunately. Her smoky, soulful voice is a saving grace on the schizo beats of 'Wallace', which is just too bland a track to follow up 212. The rest of the (very long) album is a mix of throwaway pseudo urban tracks and moments of genuine genius.
I guess it's better that she gave us too much rather than not enough, especially after two years of promise. Also, even when she's being lewd and lascivious, there is enough intelliegence and talent here for her to deflty avoid becoming a Nicki Minaj or Iggy Azalea.
'Bbd', 'Ice Princess', 'Luxury', 'Miss Amor' and 'Miss Camraderie' all sound as if they wouldn't even really make it as B-Sides and they bring down the fresh, innovative spirit of the album. 'Chasing Time' sounds like a Kele Okereke track. In a good way. And 'Nude Beach A Go-Go', with dreampop band Ariel Pink, is the unexpected shock collabo the album needed. It doesn't fit in at all, and feels more like an advert for Coca-Cola than a legit track, but that only adds to it's quirky charm.
I just wish there had been more moments like that. She's been so hot and anticipated since 2012 that she could have taken a shit, wrapped it in tinfoil, attached fish hooks to it and sold it to Queen Elizabeth as earrings. There may be just one too many Blue Steel moments here for me.
Still, it's an exciting event of an album.
WVS
Already known for her cute, cool, fresh face, dimpled smile and unblievably sweary debut track '212' Azealia has been famous for ages now, with people lauding her very early on as the new Queen of Cool. All of that was assumption. No doubt she had mad skills with words, even if they were unecessarily foul, and the incessant beat of 212 continues to get you booty shaking at your desk whenever it comes on, but there was very little to go on. Though she's obviously straight out of NYC, her innovative, ecleftic mash up of sounds and styles ranks more in line with M.I.A. and Santigold. That would be all good if it remained as fresh and important as both M.I.A. and Santigold. It often does, happily. The opening four tracks range from trip hop, beaty raps, a bit of Spanish salsa and some spaced out urban jazz. Great start. Then we get to her first single, which is still as fresh, catchy and vile as ever. The next few tracks drift into bland mediocrity unfortunately. Her smoky, soulful voice is a saving grace on the schizo beats of 'Wallace', which is just too bland a track to follow up 212. The rest of the (very long) album is a mix of throwaway pseudo urban tracks and moments of genuine genius.
I guess it's better that she gave us too much rather than not enough, especially after two years of promise. Also, even when she's being lewd and lascivious, there is enough intelliegence and talent here for her to deflty avoid becoming a Nicki Minaj or Iggy Azalea.
'Bbd', 'Ice Princess', 'Luxury', 'Miss Amor' and 'Miss Camraderie' all sound as if they wouldn't even really make it as B-Sides and they bring down the fresh, innovative spirit of the album. 'Chasing Time' sounds like a Kele Okereke track. In a good way. And 'Nude Beach A Go-Go', with dreampop band Ariel Pink, is the unexpected shock collabo the album needed. It doesn't fit in at all, and feels more like an advert for Coca-Cola than a legit track, but that only adds to it's quirky charm.
I just wish there had been more moments like that. She's been so hot and anticipated since 2012 that she could have taken a shit, wrapped it in tinfoil, attached fish hooks to it and sold it to Queen Elizabeth as earrings. There may be just one too many Blue Steel moments here for me.
Still, it's an exciting event of an album.
WVS
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