Credit: Raph Pour-Hashemi

Azealia Banks is a polarising figure, and her presence in hip-hop hasn’t been felt since the early 2010s. With a cult following, still has the ability to sell out of some of the country’s biggest venues. Whether you love her or hate her, it is indisputable that when she comes to town, tickets sell out.

2024 marks a decade since the release of her first and last album Broke WIth Expensive Taste and much like Lauryn Hill, the Harlem native has become an emcee whose debut project is still timeless and unparalleled stylistically.

Banks’ 2011 revival of hip-house was utterly unexpected. That said, although her take on traditional hip-hop with ‘212’ didn’t go down too well in the US, in Europe, her music was received so well that within three years, she was headlining some of the continent’s biggest festivals, gracing the stages of Primavera Sound, Glastonbury, and even performing at the house of Karl Lagerfeld for a private party.

This level of international fame for a female rapper making hip-hop fused with house music hadn’t been seen before. However, within the span of six years the formerly great artist had been reduced to making soap for her website CheapyXO and recording material from her living room.

Despite this almighty fall aided almost entirely by Twitter when Banks arrived on the stage of London’s O2 Academy wearing a Union Jack and leather thigh-high boots, she delivered a performance with a setlist full of tracks that, even a decade later, sounded better than much of the commercial trap pumped out of major labels and it was noticeable. 

Although Broke With Expensive Taste didn’t debut anywhere near the top of the Billboard 200, and didn’t have much promotion, just upon hearing some of the songs live, it reminds one how low hip-hop has stooped in the past decade.

When Broke With Expensive Taste hit stores in 2014, curious hip-hop fans were greeted with an album boasting production from the lo-fi rock guitarist Ariel Pink, the hard-hitting trap beatmaker Araab Muzik, and the house legend Lone. Yet, a decade later, fans are now welcomed by Ice Spice.

Many claim that Banks ruined her career due to her activities on Twitter when her so-called radical statements started to include racial slurs, homophobic language and false allegations. However, there are also other possibilities. Upon listening to Broke With Expensive Taste in 2024, its quality almost seems incompatible with an industry designed solely to feed the masses and make a profit.

In fact, similar things have happened before if fans just look further into history. One mustn’t forget that even before the existence of social media, Mos Def, with his creativity and artistic integrity, found himself confined by the parameters of the music industry and almost pushed out of it.

The exact same thing can be said of M.I.A. or Lauryn Hill, another intelligent, highly artistic, versatile, talented female with one album to her name. All too often, the confines of the industry mean compromise, and, on occasion, the culture produces artists who have creative red lines.

Banks’ racist, homophobic and arrogant escapades online most definitely contributed to what is perceived to be her downfall. However, it is highly likely that even today, an album like Broke With Expensive Taste would prove too cerebral to top the charts, too artsy to break records and too conceptual to warrant major label funding.

There is yet to be a space for alternative female hip-hop artists to thrive, and whether it’s Azealia Banks, Cookie Kawaii, or Princess Nokia, it’s safe to say labels are losing artists with genuine longevity for fad acts. In 2024, these rejected MCs are still packing out venues more organically than many of their in-house creations, and that, at least, can be celebrated.