Azealia Banks is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and actress from Harlem, New York City. Born in 1991, she begins releasing music through Myspace in 2008 and signs to XL Recordings at 18.

Recording career

Banks' debut single, "212", appears in 2011 and becomes a viral track that enters several international charts. She later signs with Interscope and Polydor Records before leaving those labels in July 2013. After a series of negative experiences with major labels, she works independently and founds her own label, Chaos & Glory Recordings, which is also listed among her labels alongside Universal Music.

Her releases include the mixtapes Fantasea (2012), Slay-Z (2016) and Yung Rapunxel: Pt.II (2019), the studio album Broke with Expensive Taste (2014), and the EPs 1991 (2012) and Icy Colors Change (2018). Two further studio albums, Fantasea II: The Second Wave and Business & Pleasure, remain unreleased. The lead singles associated with those albums are "Anna Wintour" and "Black Madonna".

Other work and public profile

In early 2017, Banks launches an online store called CheapyXO, which sells spiritual items, merchandise and original skin-care products. She makes her film debut in the musical drama Love Beats Rhymes in December 2017 and receives positive notices for her performance as the lead actress.

Across her career, Banks attracts controversy and media scrutiny for outspoken social-media activity, including disputes with public figures on Twitter, and for comments on U.S. politics and race.

Style and genres

Her music is associated with hip hop, rap, electronic, hip-house, dance and trap.