Azealia Banks Says Her "Voice Has Matured" Ahead Of 2 New Albums

BYCole Blake4.9K Views
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2019 Canadian Music Week
TORONTO, ON - MAY 08: Singer and rapper Azealia Banks performs during Canadian Music Week 2019 at The Phoenix Concert Theatre on May 8, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic)
Azealia Banks says she feels "really sexy" when she sings now.

Azealia Banks says that her "voice has definitely matured a lot" and has plans to release two new albums. She discussed her upcoming music during a recent interview with Dazed. Speaking with the outlet, she revealed that she's recorded 50 songs for Fantasea II, and another 25 for Business & Pleasure. She describes the new music simply as "rap," but cites Spanish drill and some R&B.

“My voice has definitely matured a lot, and I feel really sexy when I sing now,” she says in the piece. “When you’re younger, especially when you come from theatre like I do, you’re kind of listening to yourself as you sing to make sure that you sound pretty. But I don’t care about sounding pretty. Because I’ve realized that I’m fucking gorgeous.”

Azealia Banks Performing In 2022

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 27: Azealia Banks performs during the Noise Pop Music & Arts festival at The Warfield on February 27, 2022 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

Elaborating on her new music, Banks explains that she's never operated within one genre. “I do have some house songs, but a lot of my category is technically electronic music, and people really do gloss over how great of a traditional rapper I am,” she continues. “I’ve done everything. I’m singing opera on 'JFK.' I’m doing dembow on ‘Salchichón.’ I’m doing bossa nova with that cover of ‘Chega de Saudade.’ I put out a fucking Christmas record. I just like music.” Business & Pleasure will be a follow-up to Banks' only studio album, Broke with Expensive Taste. She dropped that project back in November 2014. In the time since, she released an EP and a pair of mixtapes.

Elsewhere in the interview, she discusses her store, CheapyXO, her frustration with people considering her to be making a comeback, and more. At one point, she remarks, “People are always like, oh, it’s the Azealia Banks redemption arc. But who the fuck am I redeeming myself for? You should be trying to redeem yourselves for me.” She also stated at another time, “I never left. I’ve always been here.”

Revisit Banks' Breakout Single, "212," Below.

[Via]

About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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