Broke With Expensive Taste

''Broke with Expensive Taste'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Azealia Banks. In 2011, Banks started working on the album despite not having signed to a record label at that time. A year later, she signed a contract deal with Interscope and Polydor Records to work on the album. However, she felt dissatisfied with the labels' representatives and consequently, she ended the contract with the labels in July 2014 and signed to Prospect Park. After being delayed for over two years, ''Broke with Expensive Taste'' was released on November 7, 2014 by Banks herself and Prospect Park via Caroline Records without any prior announcements at all.

''Broke with Expensive Taste'' was described as a hip house and dance-pop record which incorporates elements from a wide range of genres, including hardcore punk, punk, trance, Bounce music, R&B and UK garage. The album received positive reviews from music critics, who praised Banks' musical diversity and opined that the album was "worth the wait".

The record spawned four singles: " Yung Rapunxel", "Heavy Metal and Reflective", " Chasing Time", and " Ice Princess". ''Broke with Expensive Taste'' peaked at number 30 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and appeared on record charts of other five countries: Australia, Scotland, Belgium, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Since its release the album has accumulated over 300 million streams on Spotify. In 2022, ''Rolling Stone'' placed it on their list of the '200 Greatest Hip Hop Albums of All Time'.

Background

In 2011, it was reported that Banks was working on a studio album with British producer Paul Epworth despite not having signed to a particular record label at that time. In January 2012, Banks signed a record deal with Interscope and Polydor Records to work on her album, and a month later, she announced the title of the album—''Broke with Expensive Taste''. Approximately a year later, she handed a complete album in to the labels. Banks initially thought that the album would receive favorable reception from the labels; however, the representatives told Banks that she had not recorded a "hit" single for the album. She consequently recorded a song called " Chasing Time" for the project, yet the label denied the track and forced Banks to choose "Soda" as the lead single, which made Banks become incredulous. Ultimately, Banks ended the record deal with Interscope/Polydor in July 2014. She later approached Jeff Kwatinetz and signed a contract with his company, Prospect Park. She reveals her dissatisfaction to ''Rolling Stone'',

I just spent a whole 'nother fuckin' four months in the studio trying to come up with some shit, and you want to go with fuckin' 'Soda'? I really just lost it. That was the day you saw me on Twitter, like, 'The fuck? I'm tired of talking to these white guys about my shit.' It felt like they were playing some sort of head game. And you know I love conspiracy theories. I was like, 'They're trying to brainwash me! Fuck these guys!'

Music and lyrics

In regard to the album's sound, Banks has stated that she was aiming for something "just as stylish and authentic as anything that I do." She added that she did not want to do anything "young rmainstream" and described the album as "anti-pop". Steven J. Horowitz from ''Billboard'' characterized ''Broke with Expensive Taste'' as a hip house record with touchstones from R&B, UK garage, Bounce music and drum and bass. Mark Guiducci of '' Vogue'' noted the elements of trance and trap, while ''The Observer''s Suzie McCracken described the record as "an aggressive strain of hip hop" blending with UK garage, deep house and trap. Writing for ''The New York Times'', Jon Pareles

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases