THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

461-Azealia Banks featuring Lazy Jay-212.

2012-Number 12 single.

Best Bit-At 2.17. Warning! Do not listen to this song if you are easily offended. Also, do not listen, even if you only get slightly offended.

Azealia Amanda Banks was born on May 31st, 1991, in New York City, United States, after her father died of pancreatic cancer when she was two years old, her mother raised her and her two siblings in Harlem. Azealia Banks has said that her mother ‘Became really abusive, physically and verbally. Like she would hit me and my sisters with baseball bats, bang our heads up against walls, and she would always tell me I was ugly.’ She made her first recordings online in 2008 using the stage name ‘Miss Banks$.’ She then sent two songs to the record producer ‘Diplo,’ (see also best songs 915 and 210) which led to her first recording contract with ‘XL Recordings,’ but due to musical differences she only remained with the label for a short period. After leaving ‘XL Recordings’ she dropped the ‘Miss Banks$’ moniker in favour of her birth name Azealia Banks. It is probably fair to say that Azealia Banks has never fulfilled her full musical potential for a number of reasons. In 2011 she topped ‘NME”s ‘Cool List’ for the year, and was touted as the ‘future of music,’ by Kanye West (see also best songs 1049-636-477 and 267.) Throughout her career, her social media presence and outspoken views, especially on U.S. politics and race, as well as disputes with other artists, have attracted significant controversy. The American media and entertainment company ‘Complex’ noted in 2014, that ‘she gets more attention for her public feuds than she does for her music.’

The discography of Azealia Banks includes one studio Album released in 2014, and 17 singles released between 2011-2023, she also appears as a featured artist on a further nine singles issued between 2012-2023, there are also three mixtapes, and two extended plays (EP’s) available. In America she has never charted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, although her 2014 single ‘Chasing Time’ did make Number 12 on the ‘Billboard Dance Club Chart.’ In the UK, her only chart hit remains ‘212,’ which peaked at Number 12 in 2011.

‘212’ was the debut single from Azealia Banks, released in December 2011, and later added to her debut studio Album ‘Broke with Expensive Taste,’ from November 2014. ‘212’ (pronounced ‘two-one-two’) was co-written by Azealia Banks, (lyrics) and Jef Martens, (music) with the production being by Martens, using the name ‘Lazy Jay,’ for which he is also credited on the track as the featured artist. ‘212’ heavily samples the 2009 instrumental ‘House Music’ track ‘Float My Boat,’ written by Jef Martens, and his brother Toon. Jef Martens who has worked under other stage names including ‘Basto!,’ was born in Hoogstraten, Belgium, and has been active since 2005, recording in the genre of ‘Electronic Dance Music.’ He was a member of the Belgium ‘Dance’ group ‘Lasgo’ between 2010-2011, who previously had four top 40 hit singles in the UK between 2001-2004, but his greatest success to date is co-producing with Will.i.am (see also best songs 899 and 234) the 2012 UK Number 1 & Billboard Number 3 hit single ‘Scream & Shout,’ by will.i.am and Britney Spears.

‘212’ is named after the area code 212 which covers the area of Harlem a neighbourhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City, where Azealia Banks grew up. At the time she wrote the song she was struggling to pay her rent, and has said that ‘212’ ‘Came out of a place of desperation, but it also came out of a place of anger. It was like, ‘F#k all y’all. I’m the best bitch here.’ It’s about the journey to fame and stardom. It starts out, and this girl, she’s like, ‘Hey, I can be the answer.’ She’s real ambitious and she’s like, ‘Yo, I’m here. I can do this. All the same s#t that you got these bitches doing, I could do.’ Azealia Banks has said that she was talking to herself when she raps in the bridge, ‘Why you procrastinate girl? You got a lot, but you just waste all yourself. They’ll forget your name soon. And won’t nobody be to blame but yourself.’ She added that the name she was worried about people forgetting was her own.

‘212’ was recorded at a time when Banks was struggling financially, which probably explains why the songs video cost just $30 to make, and was shot entirely in black and white The video features Azealia Banks dancing in front of a brick wall, her hair in pigtails, wearing a Mickey Mouse sweater and short shorts, and close-ups of her rapping into the camera, to date the video has received over 200 million views. She has said about the making of the video, ‘I was surprised. I remember being really insecure about it because I didn’t have my hair done. I was really broke, and I felt I looked broke in the video so no one was going to like it.’ Lazy Jay does not appear in the video, but it does include appearances by the Canadian record producers Lunice and Jacques Greene. In 2021, ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine placed it on their list of the ‘100 Greatest Music Videos.’

‘Hey I can be the answer, I’m ready to dance when the vamp up, and when I hit that dip get your camera, you could see I been that bitch since the pamper.’