Azealia Banks
Broke with Expensive Taste
6 November 2014
Azealia Banks/Prospect Park
4 stars out of 5
“Long-awaited” doesn’t even begin to describe it. Delayed
for more than two years, the debut LP by hip hop innovator Azealia Banks
finally dropped last month, without advance hype or warning, á la Beyoncé. Both
easily accessible and envelope-pushing, Broke
with Expensive Taste showcases Banks’s uncompromising vision, fearless
creativity, and mad skillz on the mic. Including her 2012 hit single “212,” the
album begins strong and doesn’t let up until even the most curmudgeonly old
farts (I admit, I resemble that demographic) in the room are enjoying
themselves.
Banks has an instinct for experimentation that doesn’t
breach the threshold of the inaccessible. Tracks like “Yung Rapunxel” capture
the spirit of left-field electronica while keeping your ass on the dance floor.
On “Wallace,” Banks takes everyone to school on how a real quick-tongued rapper
gets shit done. Most people can’t think as fast as Banks can rhyme. And then
there’s “Nude Beach a-Go-Go,” the collaboration with
Ariel Pink that appears in different form on his LP, pom pom, released less than two weeks after Broke. Both versions of the track are pure madness, a sort of Beach
Boys-meet-Ween ode to clothesless sunbathing. A singular accomplishment, Broke with Expensive Taste proves it was
worth the wait.
reviewed by Richard Krueger
No comments:
Post a Comment