photo by Azealia Banks (@azealiabanks on Instagram)
At the end of March, Azealia Banks, one of Hip-Hop's most underrated, versatile, and unapologetically black artists, dropped the eight-track mixtape, Slay-Z.
The first single off the mixtape, "The Big Big Beat," features a Notorious B.I.G. sample and demonstrates Banks' ability to do virtually anything, and do it well, as she ferociously spits bars over a Detroit house beat.
Slightly more compelling than the track itself is the visual. Directed by her fellow LaGuardia alum Matt Sukkar, the four-minute clip features Banks in strutting through the hallways of the projects, dancing in front of a New York City municipal building, and vibing on top of a cop car in Chelsea.
Banks took to Twitter to explain that she did not choose those locations randomly, in fact, she wanted to critique the cyclical nature of incarceration and poverty in her hometown, New York City.
I shot the big big beat video in the hallways of the projects and in front of central bookings because after being arrested in NYC— BRUJA DEL BLOQUE (@AZEALIABANKS) April 26, 2016
More than once and having spent many of my teenage days hanging out in the projects you begin to see how public housing and jail are— BRUJA DEL BLOQUE (@AZEALIABANKS) April 26, 2016
One of the paths laid out for black youth. The police actually patrol the hallways of public housing looking for people to arrest— BRUJA DEL BLOQUE (@AZEALIABANKS) April 26, 2016
The materials used to build the projects are the same materials inside of jails and precincts. I see it all as a form of mental programming— BRUJA DEL BLOQUE (@AZEALIABANKS) April 26, 2016
Almost as if poor Black Youth are being conditioned and groomed for jail from the start.— BRUJA DEL BLOQUE (@AZEALIABANKS) April 26, 2016
In just under seven days, without promotion or support from a major label,"The Big Big Beat" has been viewed almost two million times and it looks like Banks might have a "Big Big" hit on her hands.
Happy Listening (watching),
Robert
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