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I am grateful to Charles Hiroshi Garrett, Karen Ahlquist, and Loren Kajikawa for their guidance and criticism over the course of this article's preparation. I would also like to thank Evan Ware, Ian Cappelletti, and Myra Palmero for their additional feedback.
Released in 2011, Azealia Banks's hit single "212" rapidly made an impression in the mainstream popular music sphere. Predominantly circulated online and on BBC Radio, the song and its music video attracted wide attention and acclaim. A diverse variety of publications, including Pitchfork, The Guardian, and NPR Music, named the track one of the year's best; Kanye West declared that Banks represented "the future of music."1Commentators generally highlighted the song's distinctive pop appeal and Banks's sexually frank and profane lyrics as standout qualities, with some comparing her idiosyncratic style and vocal delivery to other female hip-hop stars such as Lil' Kim and Nicki Minaj. Over the next three years, Banks failed to achieve the same level of success and attention she received for "212." She would eventually make a decisive return to the spotlight with the acclaimed 2014 release of her first full-length album, Broke With Expensive Taste, and more controversially, her recent public dispute with white Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, whom she accused of racism and appropriation.
In this article, I consider the broader social ramifications of "212" and Banks's public rhetoric in relation to contemporary racial and sexual politics, as well as the United States' history of exploitative and voyeuristic engagement with black individuals and musical culture. I argue that Banks's performance in "212" confronts and challenges the white gaze, rearticulates the figure of the black female rapper, and comments on white attraction to black women and fascination with black cultural forms, both in the realm of hip-hop and in broader American culture. Her music presents a novel template for confronting hegemonic constructions of black female identity and critiquing white exploitation of African American cultural production. Her more recent rhetoric regarding appropriation has further helped bring these issues into focus. By addressing and contesting the white gaze, Banks confronts a deeply entrenched force in United States racial ideology, social structure, and cultural politics--one that, despite optimism regarding a "post-racial" America, shows little sign of going away.