All the cool kids are listening to the new Azealia Banks – Count Contessa

 

Its not from Broke With Expensive Tastes, its off Fantasea 2. I think. Confusing, not sure when any of this comes out. Whatever, it sounds nice. Hopefully people can stop getting irate about what a 22 year old commits to 140 characters and concentrate on her music, which remains brilliantly fresh, which will annoy many a writer. 

2012 Artists of the Year

So, as I’m writing, it looks like 2012 wasn’t the end of the world, still time, but its not looking likely, its cold, yes, but its not an ice age. There’s no John Cusack on a bike, no ark…. unless maybe I missed the warning. If I missed the warning, I may well burn up/freeze solid/get eaten by a zombie before I even press ‘publish now’. That could happen, and it’d be typical, although perhaps a blessing, my final words would probably be ‘For fucks sake, just my luck’. If I did miss the warning, the reason could be that 2012 had some great music released, and I’ve had it on too loud and not been watching the news and weather as much as I should.

Specifically, 2012 was a year of great debuts with a number of accomplished works released by new artists. So much has been written about Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lemar that I’m not going to bother with it, they both released great records, you probably own them, if you don’t, you’ll have seen the reviews, they are very good, buy them. However, my two personal favourite releases this year were from Azealia Banks and Rapsody. Its not deliberate that they are both female artists, it just happened that they were, in my opinion, stand out records. Lyrically both artists, in very different ways, challenge, not necessarily gender stereotypes so much as genre stereotypes.  

Azealia Banks 1991 EP had to be the the soundtrack of the summer, with 212 (originally released in December 2011) being the most infectious stand alone tracks from the EP, a quickfire yet effortlessly delivered rap opening with the line ‘Hey, I can be the answer‘. Banks spends the next 3 minutes and 20 odd seconds convincing any doubters that she can be, and probably is the answer; its down to you as the listener to work out exactly what the question may be. Its as good an opening line as you’re likely to hear. Its also likely to be the first line the listener has heard from the much hyped, much heralded 21 year old from Harlem. The hook, ‘What you going to do when I appear/Wh-when-when I premiere/B*tch, the end of your lives are near/That shit be mine, mine’ has been interpreted as an shot at Nicki Minaj, yet it could be a aimed at a wider group of peers. Banks has just over a quarter million Twitter followers, Rihanna has 26 million (and counting), Minaj over 15 million, yet that’s the audience Banks can tap into, or at the very least, cream the top off. Heralded by the broadsheet press in the UK and, more recently, the darling of high end fashion magazines; Banks is viewed as a style icon even before her first album is released. In twitter terms, following Banks is far more a rewarding prospect too, with far more to say of interest than her contemporaries, presenting a more balanced individual, lets hope she keeps it that way. I suspect that in spite of the liberal use of ‘the c word’ (Banks has referred to her following as the #kuntbrigade) she’s a prospect you’d be far happier that your daughter was listening to as well. Yes, in 2012 and moving into 2013 its far hipper to be in the kunt brigade than to be with the ‘Barbz’ or in any navy, perhaps the world did end after all! Far different from her hugely popular peer group, Banks debut, if not deadly, is a warning shot with intent.

The 1991 EP is exciting in the way music in a post modern age rarely is. Hearing something that sounds new and uniquely different is rare; whilst this isn’t groundbreaking, it sounds fresh, clean and crisp and full of a fun that tends to be missing in modern music, less a revival of the hip house genre, than a reinvention.

In search of more Azealia Banks, her free mixtape download, Fantasea, is an aural treat that hints at a future longevity in the artists career, with a real sense of creative freedom and invention. If she can give the quality of Fantasea away for nothing, what for the future? A full debut album is to follow in 2013.

Rapsody’s The Idea of Beautiful is a debut album which will probably appeal more to a more mature hip hop fan than Azealia Banks (though clearly I love both!). There are a few stand out tracks on the record, but truth be told it has to be listened to as a complete piece of work. The i-tunes trend of downloading specific tracks rather than complete albums is a flash back to the days, prior to the mid 1960s when Long Players were just a collection of singles, rather than a coherent body of work. The Idea Of Beautiful  bucks this trend as an album purists album; constructed like a novel or a movie, consisting of scenes and chapters that contribute to an overall picture, story, idea, at times even a thesis. As a consequence there are clear parallels to draw between The Idea of Beautiful and another great complete work of hip hop; the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Rapsody pre empts such parallels on the track Believe Me with a line lifted from The Fugees Ready Or Not, ‘Believe me, fronting n*ggas give me heebie jeebies’. In the first verse of the same song, Rapsody tells us, ‘Lauryn aint crazy/Just don’t know what she’s been through’ highlighting the press portrayal of Lauryn Hill having lost her mind because she didn’t conform to expectation in recording terms following Miseducation of. More specifically, this references journalists and peers suggesting Lauryn Hill has deep lying issues based on an assumption that we know an artist through their music. A reminder that music is just one part of the whole person, beyond that which is put out there creatively, its really none of our business (nor our place to judge). The theme of critiquing the press continues, with the line, ‘Cause n*ggas with opinions don’t support you on i tunes’, again, likely an assault on the music press, and perhaps even those who illegally download music. The track Beautiful Music is a track highlighting the numerous influences on Rapsody, the influences that have brought her to this point in time, to her debut album, referencing everything from Gil Scott Heron to Mos Def via R Kelly and Wu Tang. 

The album is studious, thoughtful and powerful. Sadly, most reviews have concentrated on its position as a ‘female MC’ album, which kind of detracts from how good this record is. Popular music, not just hip hop, remains a male dominated, misogynistic world, which means it probably won’t sell in the volumes of, say, Kendrick Lemar, and, for that reason, anyone who owns it can feel superior and happy in the knowledge that they have stumbled upon greatness. Far too many tracks, with too many lyrical nuances to discuss in minute detail, as I say, this is an album rather than a collection of singles and fillers, to highlight specifics would be wrong.

The sound-scapes and production are, as the album title suggests, beautiful, and come courtesy of 9th Wonder, Amp and Ka$h to name a few. This feels like a genuinely groundbreaking album, to be viewed, in terms of debuts, alongside the seminal Illmatic, although time will be the judge of that. The Idea of Beautiful is lyrically profound, highlighting an artist that will hopefully be around for many years to come, one that is at their best when shunning lyrical short cuts in favor of poetry and art. It’s superior to any other album released this year, it is on a whole different level. Both a dissertation on, and love letter to hip hop it is both eminently listenable and accessible, whilst also being meaty enough to satisfy the more discerning hip hop fan. It demands that you stop whatever you are doing, sit down to listen… properly. Beyond the brilliant production and beat selection there is enough poetry to keep purists happy, with a variety of themes that ensure that you can’t pigeonhole or pin down Rapsody, so don’t try, just listen, and listen hard. This deserves a massive audience, it may not get one, but in years to come this should be discussed as an all time classic, at least if you’re talking to me.

The biggest disappointment for me this year was Kanye West’s Cruel Summer. Its as close to a hip hop standard as you are likely to get. West gets a lot of criticism, especially in the UK for some reason, which is surprising as lyrically and musically he really is on another level to just about everything else out there that has access to that many listeners. I’m sure we can forgive Kanye. Its just that when your last three releases were, 808s and Heartbreaks, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and the Watch the Throne Jay Z collaboration  people are expecting BIG, and, well, Cruel Summer is just not big enough. In fact, its the weakest record which has West’s name attached to it. Shame, but I’m sure he’ll be back, and as bland as the record can occasionally feel, it does still contain one or two stand out tracks that suggest its more of a hiccup. 

Personally this year I’d been looking forward to the release of Talib Kweli’s Prisoner of Conscious and Jean Grae’s Cake or Death, neither arrived, but should do early in 2013. Mix tapes did come from both artists though. Jean Grae’s Cookies or Comas is 11 tracks long, with Jeanie Rules being the stand out, as good an introduction to one of the most interesting and creative lyricists in any form of popular music as you’re likely to find. Beyond that free mixtape Grae also released Kill Screen, stand out track of the year, taken from her forthcoming album. Kill Screen is a lyrically complex rap (I don’t get it, but if feels right!) delivered at 1000 mph over a retro video game inspired loop which feels claustrophobic and relentless. The track leaves the listener feeling intoxicated and confused. The video to the track could be the most complex music video of all time too, if you haven’t seen it, shame on you, stop reading now, go to You Tube and watch it, then look at the breakdown of it on Okayplayer, then come back here and read this, please (but if not, never mind, you’ll have seen that video). The video, the music, Jean Grae is a creative force, her lyrics have been studied in literature classes, you get the impression she could turn her hand to anything creative and do something outstanding, like those annoying sporty kids that can do any sport, but obviously, without the annoying bit! Jean Grae also makes an appearance in the video for Mela Machinko’s infectious, pop soul number, ‘What you want me to do (I’m sorry)’ taken from her forthcoming album, Hov Said it Best. If Mela’s track doesn’t make you smile from ear to ear you might need some kind of therapy, its the feel-good track of the year, with enough bitter sweet humour to make it not too sickly.

Talib Kweli’s Attack the Block mixtape astounds me, if he can release something of this standard for free, Prisoner of Conscious will be well worth the wait (especially looking forward to the Seu Jorge collaboration). One of the Attack The Block’s many brilliant moments is the track Numerology where Kweli spits, ‘2012 was the end of your world not mine‘. With Prisoner Of Conscious, and new records from Jean Grae, Mela Machinko, and Azealia Banks, we better pray we can be on Kweli’s side of that particular delivery.