ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Raised in Harlem by a single mom while attending Manhattan's
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art, Azealia Banks'
backstory reads like an alternate version of the musical drama
Fame, only where the main character discovers her sexuality and
becomes a rapper. At a young age she had aspirations for the
limelight, and her mother enrolled her in the school for the
performing arts. Her initial focus was on acting and singing, and
by age 10 she was performing off-Broadway with the Tada! Youth
Theater in Lower Manhattan. Banks starred in leading roles over
the next several years, including productions of Rabbit Sense,
Sleepover, and Heroes, but when she started gravitating toward
TV work, the process of auditioning for commercial spots left her
disenchanted with the business. Rap was an appealing
alternative. In 2008, at 16, she released the Ladytron-sampling
"Seventeen," which attracted the attention of XL Records. After
appearing on Major Lazer's "Can't Stop Now," credited as Miss
Banks, her progress with the label slowed to a halt. She moved to
Montreal and recorded two tracks, "L8R" and a cover of Interpol's
"Slow Hands," but it was her next song, a bass-heavy, sexually
charged number called "212" that put her in the public eye.
Pitchfork, BBC, and NME gave the track and its accompanying
video rave reviews. In 2012, she released the 1991 EP featuring
"212" and three other tracks influenced by house music. Banks
relocated to London that same year to work on her debut full-
length with Florence + the Machine producer Paul Epworth.
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