new-albums

Azealia Banks Says Her “Voice Has Matured” Ahead Of 2 New Albums

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Azealia Banks says that her “voice has definitely matured a lot” and has plans to release two new albums. She discussed her upcoming music during a recent interview with Dazed. Speaking with the outlet, she revealed that she’s recorded 50 songs for Fantasea II, and another 25 for Business & Pleasure. She describes the new music simply as “rap,” but cites Spanish drill and some R&B.

“My voice has definitely matured a lot, and I feel really sexy when I sing now,” she says in the piece. “When you’re younger, especially when you come from theatre like I do, you’re kind of listening to yourself as you sing to make sure that you sound pretty. But I don’t care about sounding pretty. Because I’ve realized that I’m fucking gorgeous.”

Azealia Banks Performing In 2022

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 27: Azealia Banks performs during the Noise Pop Music & Arts festival at The Warfield on February 27, 2022 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

Elaborating on her new music, Banks explains that she’s never operated within one genre. “I do have some house songs, but a lot of my category is technically electronic music, and people really do gloss over how great of a traditional rapper I am,” she continues. “I’ve done everything. I’m singing opera on ‘JFK.’ I’m doing dembow on ‘Salchichón.’ I’m doing bossa nova with that cover of ‘Chega de Saudade.’ I put out a fucking Christmas record. I just like music.” Business & Pleasure will be a follow-up to Banks’ only studio album, Broke with Expensive Taste. She dropped that project back in November 2014. In the time since, she released an EP and a pair of mixtapes.

Elsewhere in the interview, she discusses her store, CheapyXO, her frustration with people considering her to be making a comeback, and more. At one point, she remarks, “People are always like, oh, it’s the Azealia Banks redemption arc. But who the fuck am I redeeming myself for? You should be trying to redeem yourselves for me.” She also stated at another time, “I never left. I’ve always been here.”

Revisit Banks’ Breakout Single, “212,” Below.

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Snoop Dogg Lands Deal To Release New Albums & Distribute Death Row Catalog

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Snoop Dogg just struck a deal with former Apple executive Larry Jackson to release two new solo albums and distribute Death Row’s iconic catalog. Moreover, Jackson was Apple Music’s Global Creative Director, who’s gotten mentions from Kanye West, Drake, and many more. Recently, he started a new music company called gamma and partnered with a few other big names. In fact, gamma was behind the catalog’s availability on TikTok, following some removals from streaming services after years of shoddy artist payouts. Furthermore, Death Row’s discography contains classics like Snoop’s own Doggystyle, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, and Tupac’s All Eyez On Me.

To elaborate, gamma also has backing from A24, Todd Boehly’s Eldridge, and Apple themselves. Also, they reportedly have $1 billion in capital. Billboard described the company as “a one-stop-shop media company that creates, distributes, and markets content, from music to podcasts to films, offering resources and guidance to artists who want to build their brands and expand beyond music.” After the Long Beach MC’s ownership of Death Row, this is certainly an unclear but exciting step nonetheless. In addition, Billboard reported that the longtime partnership will revert rights back to the rapper after they “work together to enrich the value of the IP.”

Snoop Dogg’s New Deal: New Albums, Death Row Distribution, And More

Other artists that jumped onto Jackson’s new venture include Usher and Rick Ross. Furthermore, gamma aims to rival TikTok as a hub for music discovery and to create generational wealth and uplift culture for Black artists, making sure they can retain rights to their work. “It made sense for two Black men to come together to change the face of the industry,” Snoop expressed to Bloomberg concerning the team-up. “I didn’t want to partner with a regular company because they respect me and fear me so much, they wouldn’t wanna give me ideas.”

Perhaps one of these new Snoop albums will be Missionary, his previously announced collab with Dr. Dre. However, more exciting and potentially earth-shaking news surrounded the launch of gamma. Reportedly, Larry Jackson also reached out to Frank Ocean about his new company, according to Bloomberg. However, he didn’t say they were working on a specific project, so it’s just another dash of hope for one of the industry’s most elusive yet sought-after voices. Regardless, stick around on HNHH for the latest news and updates on Snoop Dogg and this new deal.

[via]