Azealia Banks has probably burned every bridge available to her in the entertainment industry. She obliterates those razor-thin lines between being a shrewd provocateur and an agent of self-sabotage, being fearless and foolish, between crisp insights and debilitating paranoia. To be a fan is to keep high blood pressure pills at the ready because for every brilliant track she drops, for every blood drenched truth she speaks, she throws up an inopportune middle finger or throws out a cringe-inducing statement that keeps you sighing deeply on a loop.
Her new track “Wut U Do,” produced by the retro-inflected duo Newbody, is a reminder of just how vast her talent is. She’s easily among the most gifted rappers / contemporary young music artists regardless of genre today. In the vein of the various old-school House tracks she’s dropped, “Wut…” has her flowing seamlessly (rapping, singing, serving breathy spoken interludes) over syncopated beats, and a deep, ridiculously funky synth groove. It’s a fun but meticulously constructed track that pulls you onto the dancefloor, a bittersweet reminder that she’s a music VIP who keeps shooting herself in the foot, relegating herself to the spectator side of the velvet rope.
Photo by Rankin
