February 27th, 2012 1:00am
Tearing Me Apart
There are a great many songs sung from the perspective of the other woman (or the other man), and you can split them into two basic categories: Songs like the
Long Blondes' "You Could Have Both" or
Pulp's "Pencil Skirt," in which the singer and the lyricist know that the character is delusional, selfish and self-destructive, and songs like
Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love For You" or this new track by Azealia Banks, in which the protagonist is straight-up expressing what they are feeling and thinking without any implied irony. While Whitney invests her song with a heartbreaking sweetness at odds with her homewrecking agenda, Banks' character is diabolical and desperate to get her way. Half the lyrics are rationalizations, but it doesn't sound like the character knows that, so lines like "you ain't in love with her, but she still is in your heart / but you be in my apartment tearing me apart" land with a bitter pathos. The character isn't afraid of hurting these other people, but most of all, she's not afraid of hurting herself.
3 Responses.
2/27/12 6:01 pm
Oh, God. Et tu, Matthew? People like Azealia Banks and ASAP Rocky are the reason why New York rap stays losing.
2/27/12 8:48 pm
Really? Because most every exciting new rapper these days seems to be from NYC. Not that into ASAP though. I have no idea how you can resist a song like this or “212.”
2/28/12 6:29 pm
“212″ feels like a privileged woman trying too hard to be crass to prove that she can roll with the misogynistic “boys” culture of Rap. My friend called her Ashely Banks in reference to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air character. Although, I should admit that I have a personal distaste for the word “cunt.” Not just as a slur against women, but phonetically it just sounds like an ugly word to me. In terms of NYC rap, the most recent rappers that I can think of to emerge from that city are, Nikki Minaj, A$AP Rocky, French Montana, Azealia Banks, Das Racist, Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, Fred The Godson, and Action Bronson. None of them appeal to me at all. I’m from Brooklyn. I wish New York would make a come back, but sadly I don’t see that happening.