100 songs for the 2010s: Azealia Banks feat. Lazy Jay’s ‘212’ #5

Hello!

And welcome to #5 entry and perhaps the most controversial song on the list so far – Azealia Banks feat. Lazy Jay’s ‘212’. I won’t pretend to understand the culture behind this song but will tell you my personal take on it.

I think I stumbled upon this song on YouTube in 2012, a year after it has been released and the hype around it has already died down. I remember hearing it and thinking ‘catchy’ and ‘clever wordplay’. I’m pretty sure that a lot of people thought the same and didn’t really look into the song’s lyrics before spreading it. I also remember being really glad that my parents spoke and understood zero English cause I did play this song out loud in their presence.

After the hype surrounding the song died down, Banks‘ career also went stagnant if not started going downhill. All the news I have seen about the singer since have been related to her social media posts rather than her music. And even though the saying goes ‘any exposure is good exposure’, I don’t think it applies here, as I personally never felt the need or an inclination to go open the artist’s Spotify page after seeing her name pop-up in relation to one or the other controversy. Maybe there is a lesson somewhere here – think before you post? This blog might honestly just be the example of me being unable to learn that lesson myself.