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Beat by Beat Review: Azealia Banks' 'Broke With Expensive Taste' Is Insanely Dope

How Pearson Sound, Machinedrum, Ariel Pink, and more helped Azealia Banks vanquish her haters.

Taylor Swift might give zero fucks about Spotify these days, but Azealia Banks proved exactly the opposite—that the music-streaming service can be a useful tool for artists trying to bypass the traditional record label system. Yesterday, Banks' magical unicorn of an album, Broke With Expensive Taste, finally arrived on Spotify and iTunes.

Originally slated to drop in the fall of 2012, the album's release was pushed back so many times that everyone (including me) eventually threw up our hands, wiped away our tears, and gave up hope. The shining star in pigtails and a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt who had stormed on the scene with "212" had fizzled out before she'd even really started. It didn't help that Banks seemed more preoccupied with starting Twitter beef with everyone and their mothers—including Iggy Azalea, Lady Gaga, Pharrell, Kreayshawn, and A$AP Rocky—than actually, like, doing her job: making new music.

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But after "begging to be dropped" from Universal Music—saying, "I'm tired of having to consult a group of old white guys about my black girl craft"—Banks finally ditched her label and went on her own merry way. Today, 1,151 days after "21"'s release, the 23-year-old artist pulled a Beyoncé and unloading her entire debut album on iTunes and Spotify. Surprise, bitches!

With this much excruciating foreplay, Banks has a lot to live up to. Will Broke With Expensive Taste blow her up to the same superstar level as her former rival, Iggy Azalea (who is now performing on SNL, starring in Fast & Furious 7, and modeling for Forever 21). Or is it just… broke? Let's examine the evidence, track-by-track.

1. "Idle Delilah" (Produced by Pearson Sound) 

Pearson Sound produced this track, and his hands are all over it—from the clattering tribal percussion to the loopy loon samples to the elevator chimes. On the played-down chorus, Banks vocals is subordinated and cut up into melodic chunks, allowing a scramble of wacked-out sounds (including actually monkey screeches!) to unfold. In a nutshell: this is the song that DJs are going to jizz their pants over.

2. "Gimme A Chance"

Banks gives it up for herself on this Spanish-inflected song, calling herself "chocolate and focused," and cooing, "Gimme a chance!" After spitting verses about working her way to the cream of the crop, Banks switches things up in the outro, singing (beautifully!) in Spanish while trumpets blare in the background. Although this song originally appeared in a pre-212 mixtape, it still sounds extremely fresh—showing off just how versatile Banks can be when she actually tries.

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3. "Desperado" (Produced by M.J. Cole) 

Fuck Taylor Swift. Azealia Banks is the real ambassador of New York City. "Desperado" kicks off with an annoucement that will hit home for every New Yorker: "An Uptown 1 Train is approaching the station. Please stand away from the platform edge." Then, a radio host on iconic hip-hop station Hot 97 adds, "I've been waiting for Azealia Banks." The line echoes a few more times—this is Banks' sly nod towards the album's long delay—before the song kicks off into a cascade of grime-y breakbeats and ghostly, mournful horns. No surprise that UK garage producer M.J. Cole was behind this one.

4. "JFK Feat. Theophilus London" (Produced by Boddika) 

Compared to the fire that came before, "JFK" just sounds dreary—its plodding momentum never really picking up steam past Theophilus London's guest verse. Boddika, you could've done better.

5. "212" (Produced by Lazy Jay) 

I don't care how many times I've heard this song. It still fucking rules. Yelling "I GUESS THAT CUNT GETTING EATEN" at 3AM while drunk at an armpit of a bar will never get old.

6. "Wallace" (Produced by Yung Skeeter) 

"He ever got licked, but he never got swallowed… He was on her Twitter, but he never got followed," croons Banks as she slinks through this sizzling number. This is the song you'll put on while licking someone special… and maybe swallowing?

7. "Heavy Metal and Reflective" (Produced by Lil Internet) 

Future as fuck, and no wonder: WWW wunderkind Lil Internet (who also directed videos for Diplo and Beyoncé) worked the production on this one. Basics will call this one "clunky" or "weird" as if that's an insult. Ignore them. That's the point.

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8. BBD

I'll let Azealia describe this one herself. "Trap, but it's Rave. it's Banjee, But still a lil classy." Word.

9. "Ice Princess" (Produced by Araabmuzik) 

This so-catchy-it-hurts, dancefloor-ready number was produced by the criminally underrated MPC whiz

Aarabmuuzik

, who admitted to THUMP that he's a big trap and trance head. It shows. The chorus explodes into bouncy, melody-driven EDM territory—and if it doesn't make you move your head like a tweaked-out bobblehead doll, nothing will.

10. Yung Rapunxel (Produced by Lil Internet) 

Hell yeah hardstyle kicks! Get your taps aff and do the shuffle to this one. Again, it's no surprise that Lil Internet was behind this mindfuck. (Remember

how creepy-cool the video

was?)

11. Soda 

Soda is about self-medicating," tweeted Banks. Despite the bouncy (albeit somewhat formulaic) house beats, this one comes off sluggish. "I'm trying to hide behind tired eyes, I sigh, I'm tired of trying to try not to cry," Banks sings. I'm tired of trying to care about this song.

12. Chasing Time

Still bored.

13. Luxury (Produced by Machinedrum) 

Off her Fantasea mixtape, the Machinedrum-produced, electro-inflected "Luxury" is cool, catchy, but ultimately souless. Just one step above Fashion Week runway music.

14. Nude Beach A Go-Go (Produced by Ariel Pink) 

HAHAHAHA this Beach-Boys-mixed-with-Christmas-jingle sounds so out of place that I had to double check my Spotify player to make sure I wasn't listening to a Starbucks commercial. Maybe Ariel Pink is trolling.

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15. Miss Amor (Produced by Lone) 

Sounds a little like "212"—but in a good way. The "Little Drummer Boy" reference—where Banks

brrrs

 her tongue like a drum roll—is a brilliant touch.

16. Miss Camaraderie (Produced by Lone) 

A fittingly uplifting end to a bravely unpredictable and—despite a couple missteps—supremely dope debut album. I want to dance to this at dawn on a rooftop while swimming in early morning sunlight.

Michelle Lhooq is a born-again Azealia fan - @MichelleLhooq