Their are not many female emcees to name when talking Hip Hop, but Azealia Banks is slowly creeping into everyone's conversations. The 20-year-old Harlem rap rookie has been turning heads overseas, but now she's bringing it back full surface in the states. Although 2012 Banks has the streets buzzing with her "212" track, she's been on the scene since 2008. It was back in '08 when she showed up to Juelz Santana's "Jingle Bellz" video shoot prepared to spit bars for Damon Dash, but Dash brushed her off before she could even get one word out.
Fast forward to 2012. After a brief international record deal with XL Records, Ms. Banks is preparing to drop her debut album on Interscope Records. She has been dubbed by Kanye West as "the future of music" and many people see her as clear competition for Hip Hop current queen Nicki Minaj.
Harry Shiftman, who happened to be a mentor and drama teacher to Banks and Minaj at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, had this to say,
"I don't remember Nicki having the level of ambition Azealia manifested to me. Azealia is a pretty extraordinary talent."
Producer Diplo, who first collaborated with Banks via Myspace back in 2008 shared,
"Azealia wasn't built in a marketing meeting. She doesn't conform at all," he says. "She really [gained momentum] all by herself, so that's going to give her the confidence to become a star."
Banks has no shortage of confidence, and the outspoken rapper shared this about her upcoming release,
"Not to shade anyone, but what I'm doing is so progressive and so many years ahead of my peers. I do whatever the f*** I want... even if someone did it before I'm gonna do it better."
Are you feeling Azealia Banks? Do you think she will be as successful as Nicki Minaj?
Source: vibe.com
