Broke with Expensive Taste is the debut studio album by American rapperAzealia Banks, released on November 7, 2014. In 2011, Banks started working on the album despite not having signed to arecord label at that time. A year later, she signed a contract deal withInterscope andPolydor Records to work on the album. However, she felt dissatisfied with the labels' representatives and consequently, she ended the contract with the labels in July 2014 and signed toProspect Park. After being delayed for over two years,Broke with Expensive Taste was released by Banks herself and Prospect Park viaCaroline Records without any prior announcements.
Broke with Expensive Taste was described as ahip house anddance-pop record which incorporates elements from a wide range of genres, includinghardcore punk,punk,trance,Bounce music,R&B andUK garage. The album received positive reviews frommusic critics, who praised Banks' musical diversity and opined that the album was "worth the wait".
In 2011, it was reported that Banks was working on a studio album with British producerPaul Epworth despite not having signed to a particularrecord label at that time.[4] In January 2012, Banks signed a record deal withInterscope andPolydor Records to work on her album, and a month later, she announced the title of the album—Broke with Expensive Taste.[5] Approximately a year later, she handed a complete album in to the labels. Banks initially thought that the album would receive favorable reception from the labels; however, the representatives told Banks that she had not recorded a "hit" single for the album. She consequently recorded a song called "Chasing Time" for the project, yet the label denied the track and forced Banks to choose "Soda" as the lead single, which made Banks become incredulous. Ultimately, Banks ended the record deal with Interscope/Polydor in July 2014.[6] She later approachedJeff Kwatinetz and signed a contract with his company,Prospect Park.[7] She revealed her dissatisfaction toRolling Stone,
I just spent a whole 'nother fuckin' four months in the studio trying to come up with some shit, and you want to go with fuckin' 'Soda'? I really just lost it. That was the day you saw me onTwitter, like, 'The fuck? I'm tired of talking to these white guys about my shit.' It felt like they were playing some sort of head game. And you know I love conspiracy theories. I was like, 'They're trying to brainwash me! Fuck these guys!'[6]
The album opens with "Idle Delilah", aglitchy mid-tempo track that contains "tropical, thuggish and quirky" sounds and was compared to the work ofLauryn Hill andMissy Elliott due to its use of bothrapping and singing, which were noted for being rugged and velvety.[11] "Gimme a Chance" contains feather-lightsynths, an'80s-style sample, boldbrass instruments and haphazard DJscratches. The song's production changes towards the end and takes influence from abachatagroove, while Banks sings in Spanish.[11] "Ice Princess" is an uptempo song that juxtaposes a sample ofMorgan Page's 2011dance song "In the Air" against a heavy trap drum pattern.[11]
In July 2013, Banks announced that the record would be released in the following fall; however, this was delayed to January, and again to March 2014.[18] Ultimately, the album was released by Banks and Prospect Park viaCaroline Records on November 7, 2014, without any prior announcements.[19][20] In December 2013, Banks announced the first four tour dates in support of the album. The tour was set to begin in March 2014 inGlasgow, Scotland.[21] However, in early March 2014, weeks before the opening date, Banks rescheduled the tour dates and cancelled some as the album's release was delayed.[22] The rescheduled tour took place in Europe throughout September.
In January 2015, Banks began to announce tour dates to support the album. Touring began in Japan, in March 2015, and extended throughout the year.[23] The tour marks Banks' first concert inNew York since performing at theBowery Ballroom in 2012 for her debut tour, The Mermaid Ball.[24] Banks also played festivals to support the album, includingCoachella,[25]Reading and Leeds,[26] andGlastonbury.[27]
In January 2013, Banks announced that the album's lead single would be "Miss Amor", which would be accompanied by "Miss Camaraderie" as aB-side.[28] Ultimately, the plan was cancelled and later that month, she confirmed that "Yung Rapunxel" would be the official lead single fromBroke with Expensive Taste.[29] The track was made available forstreaming viaSoundCloud in March 2013,[30] and was released fordigital sales a month later.[31] "Yung Rapunxel" peaked at number 25 and 152 on theAustralian Urban Singles Chart andUK Singles Chart, respectively.[32]
On May 6, 2013, Banks announced that "ATM Jam" featuringPharrell would serve as the second single fromBroke with Expensive Taste.[33] It was released on July 11, 2013.[34] However, due to negative fan feedback and personal disinterest regarding the song,[35] Banks later announced that "ATM Jam" would be removed from the album.[36]
The second official single fromBroke with Expensive Taste was "Heavy Metal and Reflective", which was released for digital sales on July 28, 2014.[37] The song peaked at number 40 on theUK Indie Chart. Due to a leak of the song, "Chasing Time" was rush-released as the third single from the project, being released on September 22, 2014, a day after the leak.[38] On March 23, 2015, "Ice Princess" was released as the fourth single fromBroke with Expensive Taste.[39] The music video for "Ice Princess", filmed on February 2 and 3, 2015 inMontreal,Quebec, Canada, was released on March 31, 2015.[40]
In further promotional efforts for the album, a music video for a non-single track "Wallace" was filmed in April 2014 in New York City and released on March 11, 2015. The video is an interactive project released throughGoogle Cloud.[41] Years later on March 20, 2018, Banks released the music video for non-single "Soda". The video portrays Banks walking through the desert and sitting on rocks whilst shots jump to her band playing on the drums.[42]
Broke with Expensive Taste received positive reviews from critics. AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received anaverage score of 77, based on 26 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[44]
InRolling Stone,Suzy Exposito hailed the record as possibly "the year's boldest release",[51] while Matthew Horton fromNME called it "a cascading flood of madcap imagination".[49] Suzie McCracken ofThe Observer deemed it "a contender for album of the year" while praising the music'seclecticism: "Banks immerses herself in 90s nostalgia, spitting darkly and sharply over tracks full of elements of UK garage, deep house and trap (an aggressive strain of hip-hop)."[1] Brennan Carley fromSpin felt that Banks displayed a "burst of personality" and on an album "dripping in confidence, class, bursts of brilliance, and personality".[53] CriticRobert Christgau commended her vocal performances but stated that while her understanding of sex was more dynamic than her male counterparts', "her troubles are the usual star-time overindulgences, and just about every terrific song here is a boast one way or another. Yet just about every song is a serious pleasure regardless."[46]
In a less enthusiastic review forClash, Mike Diver felt the album was as much enjoyable as it was "schizophrenic and really quite silly in places".[54] Nolan Feeney ofTime qualified his praise of Banks' ability to make the lines in her raps sound melodious: "She lines up syllables like a firing squad, repeating the same sounds and hums and clicks with a sing-song-y cadence. When she's in the zone, it's vaguely hypnotic. The downside is that it's also a limited tool set — her flows sometimes sound too much like her other verses. Get deep into one Azealia Banks song, and you'll often hear a line or two that remind you of another."[55] Fred Thomas fromAllMusic said the record's highlights, including "the time-tested singles", were spoiled by musically incongruousfiller, making it feel "like a piecemeal collection of tracks that spike and dip in terms of quality and intent".[45]
Broke with Expensive Taste appeared on several publications' lists of 2014's best albums. It was ranked number 38 bySpin,[56] number 25 byPitchfork,[57] number 15 byComplex,[58] number 10 byBoston Globe critic James Reed[59] and Nolan Feeney fromTime,[60] and number 3 by Jon Pareles ofThe New York Times[10] andCosmopolitan editor Eliza Thompson.[61] InRolling Stone's list of the year's best rap records, it was named the 10th best and "the sort of effortless triumph that deserves to outshine the Internet circus".[62]Broke with Expensive Taste was also voted the 14th best album of 2014 in thePazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published byThe Village Voice.[63] Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, named it the year's 7th best album in his own ballot.[64] In 2022,Rolling Stone placed it on their list of the '200 Greatest Hip Hop Albums of All Time'.[65]
Broke with Expensive Taste debuted at number 62 on theUK Albums Chart for the week ending November 15, 2014, with 1,751 copies sold.[66] The album debuted at number 30 on the USBillboard 200, selling 11,000 copies.[67] In its second week of sales, the album dropped to number 105 on the chart, selling an additional 4,096 copies.[68] As of April 2015,Broke with Expensive Taste has sold 31,000 copies in the United States.[69] It has accumulated over 300 millions streams since its release.[70]
"Idle Delilah" contains excerpts from "WAD" by Pearson Sound
"Gimme a Chance" contains excerpts from "Knock That Door" by Enon
"Desperado" contains excerpts from "Banderlero Desperado" by MJ Cole
"JFK" contains excerpts from "Breezin'" by Boddika
"212" contains elements of "Float My Boat" by Lazy Jay
"Ice Princess" contains samples from "In the Air" by Morgan Page featuring Angela McCluskey
"Yung Rapunxel" contains a sample of "No More Drama" byMary J. Blige and "Fuck da' Haters" by Ruff Ryders and samples a portion of "Stop Playing Games" by 8Ball
"Miss Amor" contains excerpts from "Coreshine Voodoo" by Lone
"Miss Camaraderie" contains excerpts from "Rapid Racer" by Lone
^Diver, Mike (November 11, 2014)."Chasing Time".Clash.Archived from the original on July 2, 2015. RetrievedMay 23, 2015.
^Exposito, Suzy (November 19, 2014)."Broke With Expensive Taste".Rolling Stone.Archived from the original on November 22, 2014. RetrievedAugust 25, 2017.
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