Review - Azealia Banks - 1991 EP

For those who read my blog frequently, you know that while I always write about pop, I love to write about genres that mix pop with something else. Pop rock, pop punk, etc. etc. One of my favorite mixed/sub genres is pop rap, or pop hip hop. Think Flo Rida and you’ll know what I mean. I’m really quite a fan of hip hop lyrics styles and pop/dance music. It just covers all the bases, and I think we need more of it.

Azealia Banks (who I have <a href="http://popbangboom.blogspot.com/2012/04/new-music-azealia-banks.html">mentioned before</a>) finally released her very anticipated ‘1991’ EP recently, and I thought I should bring some attention to the very listenable (unless you’re at work or near children or elderly people or anyone who gets offended easily) pop/dance/hip hop wonderfulness that is Azealia.

Instead of just writing about the whole thing, I’ll just let you listen for yourself. It is only four songs long, and I’ve got them all on repeat.

“1991”

“Van Vogue”   (which is as 90’s-referencing as it sounds like it will be)

“212 (ft. Lazy Jay)”

“Liquorice”

‘1991’ shows Azelia’s love of 90’s dance tunes, and the EP is SO SO SO good. Every song is fresh, new, original, and filthy. Somehow, I feel her curses are completely fitting and appropriate, whereas I feel a lot of people in hip hop only do it as it is the norm and what they are “supposed to do”. Anyways, nothing like this is happening in hip hop right now (nor pop), so Azealia sticks out in the most beautiful of ways.

Azealia Banks is where hip hop is going and she is where it needs to go.