Azealia Banks Goes All Wild West In "Liquorice"

Azealia Banks is back from her deletion from the twitter world, and showing how much of a bad girl she really is, just in time to drop off her first professional music video for her latest funky banger, "Liquorice," the closing track off her debut EP "1991," which is stuffed with slick rhymes and follows an insane rhythm, and its visual accompaniment is as juicy as the popsicle she wraps her lips around, and it's got a heavy taste of the old west and a unique take on some classic Americana.
The dance-rap track, "Liquorice" is the first release for Banks since she terminated the services of Lady GaGa's manager and employed Coldplay's, who also happen to be her boyfriend. Meanwhile, the 21-year-old young Harlem star, is spitting explicit lyrics on "Liquorice" that could rival that of Lil Kim's "Hardcore" days, however her flow is so sick that the content might be an afterthought to the average listener. With its ravey beat and relentless rhymes, is one of our favorite songs of the year.
The Harlem rapstress unleashes her Wild Wild West side in the American West themed visual, which was directed by famed English photographer Rankin, styled by Nicola Formichetti, in a sun drenched 'dust bowl' western backdrop, with the singer in everything from leather cowboy outfit to an American flag bikini with some extra long ombre hair while suggestively sucking on a red, white and blue popsicle. It's as stylish and as slick as you could ever hope for.
The clip starts with an intro straight out of a Sergio Leone western, and as gunshot effects and two tone animations and stop shots lead into the song. As a bat-wielding, horseback-riding, shootout-hosting cowgirl, Banks gallivanting around a town from the Old West and wraps herself in all sorts of American cultural iconography, such as, baseball and hot dogs and mashes them up with the rappers own brash personality, and she somehow manages to get in a shootout with herself near the middle. Even though Banks herself is the only human being who shows up onscreen, it's still a fun, ridiculously glossy affair.

Usher released "Lil Freak" Featuring Nicki Minaj

R&B crooner Usher links up with Young Money lady in charge Nicki Minaj for the official music video on BET's 106 & Park last Wednesday, for his latest single "Lil' Freak," was inspired by real-life experiences, produced by Polow Da Don. The so-called freaky video which is claimed to have 'Saw' elements - the dark, underground club scene is full of tempting treats, including R&B singer Ciara, who makes a cameo along with Jamie Foxx. The song, after-all, is all about Usher getting his girl to recruit another chick so that she, Usher and the other girl can have a threesome.
The song was released as the second US-only single from his sixth studio album, "Raymond v. Raymond," which is set to drop next Tuesday via Sony Music. The song, lyrically based around the thrill of orchestrating threesomes in a club, is of more explicit nature than typical Usher songs, dating back to 2001's "U Don't Have to Call". The song is mid-tempo, with supported by heavy bass beats produced by Polow da Don, which Prefix Magazine called "Jurrasic Park synths." Pitchfork Media called "a monstrous swirl of orchestral exoticism."
Usher's "Lil' Freak" might have caught you off guard when it debuted. According to Usher, the song is not only a great record but, true when it comes to his life. "I mean, I wrote about it," Usher said that when he sang about asking girls to get him girls on the track "Lil' Freak," he wasn't just entertaining. The song was inspired by real life. Young Money female rapper Minaj rocks a sexy Cruella de Vil hairstyle — half black, half blond. She helps lure a woman into Usher's underground playground.
The video features, of all things, random women dancing around Usher and being "Little Freaks." It's dark and sexual, as one would expect from the parentally advised lyrics. Usher is his usual cool, laid back self, while the seductive Minaj is getting her "Barbie" on with yet another two-tone wig and makes several puns in her lines.
Usher and Minaj shot the music video on March 9 in Los Angeles and directed by Taj Stansberry, who he explained about video, "My general idea was to take the word and show it's many faceted sides, twisting and turning it to where there's really no distinguishing between one freak and another. Usher went there," he says. "When you're engaging in sexual activity, there are many transitions and this is not about what they look like literally, but what they look like metaphorically. It's about luring people into a situation. Because you have your thoughts on a ménage à trois, but then we're doing it in a non-obvious way." In all, the video is interesting to look at and should be the perfect bridge to the release of Usher's new album "Raymond Vs Raymond" on March 30.