212 (2011)

"212" (pronounced "two one two") is the debut single by the American rapper Azealia Banks. It was written by Banks and Lazy Jay—the alias of Belgian disc jockey Jef Martens and his brother Toon. Lazy Jay also produced the track. "212" was released on December 6, 2011, as the lead single for Banks' debut extended play, 1991 (2012); it was included as an album track on her debut studio album, Broke with Expensive Taste (2014). Built around Lazy Jay's track "Float My Boat", it has been described as a hip house, electro house, Dutch house, hardcore hip-hop and dance rap track. "212" reflects Banks' adolescence in Harlem, New York, and features her rapping about cunnilingus.

"212" has received acclaim from music critics, some of whom described it as one of the best tracks of the 2010s, with Billboard recognizing it as one of the songs that "defined the decade". Rolling Stone included it on its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Initially released as a free download, "212" achieved commercial success in Europe, reaching the Top 20 in the United Kingdom and charting in the Benelux region. A black-and-white music video was released on September 13, 2011, featuring Banks dancing and rapping to the song in front of a brick wall. It was praised by critics; many publications described it as one of the best music videos of the 2010s.

Background and release

Raised in Harlem, American rapper Azealia Banks began rapping after watching her high school boyfriend and his friends freestyle. She recalls, "I was just writing this little rap on the side. I spit it, and they were like, 'Oh shit, you can rap—you need to do that!'" In 2009, Banks recorded "Gimme a Chance" and "Seventeen" and uploaded them to Myspace under the name Miss Banks. DJ-producer Diplo helped connect her with XL Recordings after she sent him her song "Seventeen", leading the label to fly her to London for a development deal when she was seventeen. However, Banks left the label in 2010 due to conflicting ideas. She used YouTube as a platform to share several demo tracks, including "L8R" and a cover of Interpol's "Slow Hands".

Banks began writing "212" in the middle of 2011, a month before getting evicted from her apartment in Dyckman Street in the Inwood neighborhood north of Harlem. In May 2011, Banks released "212", her debut single, as a free digital download on her website, and officially released it on December 6, 2011. "212" is the lead single from her extended play 1991, which was released on May 28, 2012, and is also featured on Banks' debut studio album, Broke with Expensive Taste, released on November 7, 2014.

Composition

"212" is three minutes and 24 seconds long. The song was written by Banks, Jef Martens and his brother Toon; the latter two are a duo credited by the alias Lazy Jay. Lazy Jay produced the track, while Nick Hook and Ric Mcrae worked as mixing engineers. "212" has been described as a hip house, electro house, dance rap, Dutch house and hardcore hip-hop song. The song, written at 126 beats per minute, samples the musical base of Lady Jay'z "Float My Boat", an instrumental house track. The song title is a reference to the area code 212, which covers Manhattan, New York City, where Banks grew up. According to Pitchfork's Carrie Battan, Banks delivers her vocals with "solid, straightforward flows, guttural yelps, top-shelf singing, triple-X raunch, and a smug talk-rap cadence".

In the first section of "212", Banks raps about cunnilingus, set against electro beats. About halfway through, the beat recedes, which, according to Michael Cragg of The Guardian, allowed Banks to showcase her vocal abilities. In the final section, the beat evolves gradually and merges into a fusion of altered synths. According to James McNally of the Journal of the Society for American Music, "212" "rearticulates the figure of the black female rapper and comments on white attraction to black women and fascination with black cultural forms, both in the realm of hip-hop and in broader American culture". Banks makes multiple references to her place of origin, Harlem, using phrases such as "I was in the 212" and "on the uptown A".