Alt Disney once wanted the image of Mickey Mouse to be everywhere. But it’s safe to say he never wanted the icon of his family-friendly empire emblazoned on the chest of Azealia Banks.
In the video for her song “212,” the Harlem-born rapper wears a sweater with a smiling Mickey on the front. And if Uncle Walt could hear Banks’ sexually aggressive rhymes, he’d roll over in his frozen death chamber.
Banks, who turned 21 on Thursday, has become a darling of the hip-hop world, garnering shout-outs from the likes of Eve and Kanye West (who called her “the future of music”) thanks to the unprintably raunchy chorus of “212.” The ribald catchphrase has since been echoed on uncensored T-shirts, for sale via her Web site.
But the in-your-face rapper, who plays the Hot 97 Summer Jam today and Bowery Ballroom tonight, has more going for her than just a filthy mind.
As the music industry has jumped on the Banks bandwagon, so has the world of fashion, with Karl Lagerfeld inviting her to perform at his Paris home, and Alexander Wang designing her outfit for the Met’s Costume Institute Gala.
What’s most amazing about Banks’ early success, which came to a head with a raucous, much-lauded set at this year’s Coachella Festival, is that, in the long run, rapping may not even be her greatest strength.
Banks, who grew up in Harlem with her retail-saleswoman mom (her dad died when she was 2) and her two sisters, was bitten by the performing bug early. She joined the Tada! Youth Theater, a company for child performers, at about age 11, embracing musical theater.
While her talent was evident early on, so was her ability to use shocking language to get attention.
Banks briefly attended LaGuardia Arts High School — alma mater of Nicki Minaj, to whom she is frequently compared, and whom she disses on “212” — but dropped out to start recording.
While the song has brought her public acclaim, Banks has also learned some of the less pleasant aspects of fame.
“These fake people are all up in your face with their antics, and you’re just like, ‘uhhh,’ ” Banks told the BBC in January, adding that certain male journalists have taken the song’s risque nature as a license to be intrusive.
And while Banks has become a media and industry sensation, some believe that the buzz, coming as it has on a very limited body of work, should be taken with a grain of salt.