Azealia Banks

Azealia Amanda Banks is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Her debut single "212" became a defining song of the 2010s and appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2021.

Azealia Banks arrived in 2012 with "212," a track so sharp and propulsive it seemed to promise a major career trajectory, yet her legacy remains fractured between genuine artistic ambition and the corrosive effect of her own feuds. *Broke With Expensive Taste* showcased a restless experimentalist unafraid to blend grime, house, and trap into something genuinely her own, but Banks' influence got crowded out by constant Twitter warfare—most notably her years-long conflict with Cardi B, whom she accused of wholesale style appropriation. Her beef with Iggy Azalea over authenticity in rap became emblematic of broader conversations about who belongs in hip-hop, though Banks' own volatility often drowned out her legitimate critiques.