Why? Cause she's utterly ineffable, that's why.
Pitchfork has given a more in-depth treatment than I have, writing a veritable book on the young rapper. You can read that here (but you must know about all of the musical and artist references they make otherwise it is like reading an essay on sociology). That said, you want more info, you go there. I'm here to chat about music, not history.
Where to begin. Swagger doesn't exactly cover what these songs have. Swagger is for the weak. This is pure attitude. Angel Haze, much like Nicki Minaj, spits rhymes that are as open as space, explicit as porn, and as raw as taking a bite out of a passing cow. She is truer than Nicki Minaj, not just because of the music itself, but also because she's blown up before she's signed to a major record label, not after. They both rap. That is where the similarity ends. She makes Minaj sound like Oprah.
'New York' is drenched in daring audacity and utterly full of confidence. With a beat that sounds like a soundtrack to a march, it has all this potential energy into it, more like watching a battle about to happen rather than actually watching one happen. Two of my favourite lines: 'I am zero past a hundred / Spittin' like a dragon that were mission from a dungeon / Y'all a bunch of niggers getting trippy off of nothing / Tie a rope around ya neck and let me kick you off a bungee'. There's a careless Minaj reference in there. And then there's the un-politically correct: 'You bitches are lyrically like some fuckin' Down's syndrome, no offense'. Brilliant stuff.
And then 'Werkin' Girls', also from her album Reservation (released 17th July), is on another level entirely. It's dirty, dark and damn good. There's this huge bass that bounces out alongside a beat so slow and aggressive it feels like I could fall over just listening to it. Her bars on this one are just something else entirely, she's a fast rapper and she delivers the line so effortlessly - there's no tripping up on anything, it's like her mouth is a machine gun. But at the same time she's putting all her energy into this, you can hear her gasping for air sometimes. There's something in her aching to get out and it doesn't just get out: it bursts out like a volcano erupting.
It's such a joy to listen to not just a talented wordsmith who can weave words together, creating original rhymes and unique imagery, but also to a talented speaker who raps with the such finesse and precision that - especially on the first listen - you can't help but smile. Pure wicked joy.
Angel Haze is real. Do believe the hype. Don't accept any comparisons. She is entirely original. She's just 20 years old and she's going to be huge. As she rightfully says in 'Werkin' Girls':
'I just popped up out the blue / I'm spontaneously combusting'
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• Listen to Angel Haze's RESERVATION on her Bandcamp page
• Here's more Angel Haze sounds on her SoundCloud
• Angel Haze on Facebook
• Here's her YouTube channel
• Follow Angel Haze on Twitter!
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