Azealia Banks

Azealia Banks has come 3rd in the BBC Sound of 2012 countdown. 20 year-old MC Azealia stormed into the musical consciousness of the masses in early September when the fizzing beats of 212 sparked the attention of blogs and radio stations around the globe who found favour in the lyricist's accelerated rhymes and potty mouth as much as the Lazy Jay sample which underpinned it.

This was not the first we had seen of Azealia however, the Harlem girl graduated from the same Manhattan based LaGuardia High School, which spawned Al Pacino and Nicki Minaj, before trying her hand at acting and musical theatre. She soon diverted her attention to hip hop, popping up as Miss Bank$, with the Ladytron sampling Seventeen attracting the attention of XL Records, before appearances on the 1Love video series and Major Lazer EP Lazers Never Die.

A cover of Interpol's Slow Hands followed before Banks parted ways with XL and started a major label scramble for her signature. Now based in London, NME's coolest person of 2011 is working on her hotly anticipated debut release with Florence + The Machine producer Paul Epworth.

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