Azealia Banks

Azealia Amanda Banks is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter born on May 31, 1991. She is best known for her debut single "212," which became a defining song of the 2010s and was listed on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2021. Throughout her musical career, her work has drawn on a variety of genres, including house, rap, pop, electronic music, and avant-garde.

Raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, Banks was the youngest of three children raised by a single mother following her father's death from pancreatic cancer when she was two. After experiencing a violent and abusive childhood home, she moved out at age 14 to live with her older sister. She developed an early interest in musical theater, dancing, acting, and singing, starring in a production of City of Angels at age 16. Following unsuccessful auditions for television networks, she ended her acting pursuits and turned to writing rap and R&B music, ultimately leaving high school to pursue a recording career.

Under the name Miss Bank$, she released her debut recording "Gimme a Chance" online in November 2008 alongside the track "Seventeen." She briefly signed a development deal with XL Recordings before leaving due to creative differences. After dropping her pseudonym and performing as Azealia Banks, she released her official debut single "212" in late 2011. The song achieved European chart success, reaching the top 15 in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. She released her four-track debut EP, 1991, in May 2012, which earned a gold certification in Australia in 2013, followed by her debut mixtape, Fantasea, in July 2012.

Banks experienced transitions between several record labels, including Interscope, Polydor, Universal Music Group, and Prospect Park, before operating independently and establishing her own label, Chaos & Glory Recordings. Her debut studio album, Broke with Expensive Taste, was surprise-released in November 2014, preceded by singles such as "Yung Rapunxel" and "Heavy Metal and Reflective." After resolving her label contract in early 2016, she released the single "The Big Big Beat" and her second mixtape, Slay-Z, in March 2016.

In addition to music, Banks made her acting debut in 2017 as the lead character in the musical drama film Love Beats Rhymes. That same year, she launched her online store CheapyXO, selling merchandise and skincare products, and later launched her podcast Cheapy's Two Cents. Her later releases include the holiday EP Icy Colors Change in 2018 and the mixtape Yung Rapunxel Pt. II in 2019, alongside independent singles such as "Black Madonna," "Six Flags," and "Fuck Him All Night." After briefly signing with Parlophone Records under Warner Music Group in late 2022, she parted ways with the label in early 2023 to continue releasing music independently.

Throughout her career, Banks has attracted significant publicity for her outspoken online presence and public disputes with other artists. Her commentary regarding United States politics and race, her self-identification as a Zionist, and accusations of homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia have drawn widespread media attention.