Angel Haze

i'm saaaaaaatan
and imma take your ass to church now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hKP5ljDar8

this girl is the most exciting young rapper around right now. her new mixtape reservation (out next tues) has been blowing.my.mind this week - both for the tracks where she goes hard, like above, but also for the softer stuff: "gypsy letters" is perfect bittersweet summer-crush reminiscence, "smiles n hearts" is emotionally fucking draining ~srs thoughts~. some of you may remember that i was super high on her stuff last year, and she's seriously stepped her game up in terms of tightening her songwriting, hooks and flow. (reservation is her first mixtape of all original beats, i think.)

those other tracks aren't online yet but this cosmic love jam from last year's altered ego mixtape is still one of the best things i've ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEObhpJ18oo

[and because labels suck but are unavoidable to an extent: native american heritage, queer, childhood cult survivor.]

In addition to the glorious Fall For Your Type (Remix), you should listen to 'Things Money Can Buy', her take on Drake's 'Dreams Money Can Buy' because she's somehow able to take Drake-penned numbers and while keeping much of their meter and rhythm turns them into contemplative philosophical based love and/or inspirational jamz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOfaTK8Sln4

Must hear this new mixtape.

Her Yonkers is also pretty intense and maybe more disturbed than Tyler's:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DezcgCwwRnc

Her first two mixtapes, Altered Ego and No Greater Love got "best of" compiled into one called KING and it's harder to track down the earlier versions, but Altered Ego especially has some necessary jamz that don't appear elsewhere.

Her Voice EP came out earlier this year, and despite the name was really a mixtape.

Oddly, Reservation is being called a mixtape, but is all original beats and getting put out on vinyl so it's really more of a debut LP.

couple more tracks from reservation are out there -

werkin' girls http://soundcloud.com/pinboardblog/angel-haze-werkin-girls
hot like fire (yes, as in the aaliyah song) http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hot-like-fire-by-angel-haze-free-mp3-20120713

i think the thing that i was trying to get at in my review was that her confessional-cathartic stuff has the potential to resonate HARD with what could be a very, very loyal fanbase

this story from last year is good on her background - http://www.thefader.com/2011/05/24/feature-angel-haze-has-got-talent-and-a-whole-lot-of-issues/

I didn't really enjoy the Voice EP as much as I liked Altered Ego, but the tracks posted here from the new one sound great. I think she's super talented and hope this gets some shine.

Her old spoken word poetry from her YouTube channel is great, also.

i think this is the Azealia Banks i actually like

I don't really get the comparison.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWdlJlek0cI

Yeah, I don't really get the Banks/Haze comparison besides the fact that they're queer female rappers.

Azealia's always been more hipster-dance adjacent and spits rapid fire syllable-play over 90s house etc. Her flow is more important than its content for enjoyment of her music, imo. (Although the content is fun too, although more party + sex raps)

Angel, even though she's capable of going hard, raps overtop more boom bap stuff and more 'traditional' hip hop beats, and (often but not always) her lyrics *are* clearly not just meticulously 'composed' but also intended to be listened to as self-expression.

what cult did she survive?

In the fader piece I linked

alex, i think you compared quite well: haze feels more real

RT @NativeRaeen: Listen to Angel Haze's RESERVATION in its entirety NOW. CLICK THE LINK. http://bit.ly/MznLoE

^^do it

haha spin STILL auto-redirects me away from every page i try to visit

okay "New York" is fucking fantastic

Love that it opens with a music box playing 'Over the Rainbow'. How Haze is that. So many feelings. lol.

approve of this aaliyah sample

Yeah. The Aaliyah sample is great.

Two tracks in and it already feels more cohesive than the previous mixtapes. There's real effort to present Angel in all her facets but less... ramshackle?

Wicked Moon is great, despite it kind of being horrorcore + dubstep + one verse of quasi-toasting + the return of Nicole Wray.

the second verse of "new york" is so amazing

i am - zero past a hundred
spittin like a dragon that went missing from a dungeon
y'all a bunch of n*ggas gettin trippy offa nothing
tie a rope a round your neck and lemme kick you off a bungee
i'm SAAATAN, and imma take your ass to church now
running my fields and you n*ggas on your first down
i love it when these bitches know i'm better than em
cuz i don't hear not a word nor a letter from em

i'm a fire in the midst of the forest round bitches
and i rap elliptical orbits round bitches
anaconda, i sit with an open mouth bitches
and you bitches are lyrically like some fuckin down's syndrome
no offence, no shade and all
but y'all bitches on knees like babies crawl
you can catch me out in covert, chilling like a stoop kid
yeah hate, don't talk bitch, do it

Wicked Moon is great, despiteBECAUSE it kind of being horrorcore + dubstep + one verse of quasi-toasting + the return of Nicole Wray.

corrected!

ha I read that description and was "oh is that the fucking fantastic song I'm listening to right now?" and... it was!

Yeah. Fair enough. I think I meant that the description does not sound appetizing and then it is. Mostly the horrorcore + dubstep parts sound iffy when described but it's so damn good.

Also can we talk about how the beat for ‘New York’ sounds like a sample from that Gil Scott-Heron record mixed with the handclap jump-rope ‘No Music’ break in the middle of Lil Mama’s ‘Lipstick’ and the trunk-rattlin’ thump from Grindin’?

my reference point was the Diwali riddim with the synths stripped out, basically Lumidee on steroids

Oh shit. You're right. My bad.

I want to play "Jungle Fever" on endless loop

did she dropped a video with rick ross last year or am i mistaking her for someone else ?

that was Reema Major

oh yeah.

next question : how is this an ep ?

The same way Dawn Richard's 'Armor On' is.

I want to play "Jungle Fever" on endless loop

― PITILESS LIVE SHOW (DJP), Monday, July 16, 2012 10:18 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

have to admit the opening of Sufferings First made me think I was on spotify and one of their shitty guitar-strumming ads had started

New york, hot like fire, werkin girls & realest are the songs i like. The rest is pretty meh imo.

Also can we talk about how the beat for ‘New York’ sounds like a sample from that Gil Scott-Heron record mixed with the handclap jump-rope ‘No Music’ break in the middle of Lil Mama’s ‘Lipstick’ and the trunk-rattlin’ thump from Grindin’?

― twinkin' and drinkin' and ready to fly (Alex in Montreal), Monday, July 16, 2012 9:58 AM Bookmark

It is a sample from the GSH record

Jungle Fever 9Remix) the first trk I'm feeling so far.

And 'Castle On A Cloud' as well.

"castle on a cloud" is intense

to download:

http://www.djbooth.net/index/albums/review/angel-haze-reservation/

WOW at "Werkin' Girls".

like a cheetah in a jungle but i'm muthafuckin faster
like a pre-teen boy in a church with a pastor

i be on that other shit, got that from my other bitch
she come from an island or a desert or some TUNDRA SHIT

Tundra shit is great yeah

Best thing I've heard in a while I'm thinking. Real "R.P.M." vibes.

I think I only like a few tracks from this. Too much DEEP THOUGHTS Angel Haze, which I've never had much use for.

otm

DEEP THOUGHTS angel haze is what makes her special though imo - my favourite trax are also the bangers but without the DEEP THOUGHTS trax she's just another fast-tongued swag rapper with an ear for a simile.

Yeah I agree with that - or, well, I haven't really thought about like the status of Angel Haze as a rapper, but certainly on this the tunes like "Gypsy Letters" and "Castle on a Cloud" really set off my actual favourites like "Workin' Girls" and "New York".

I'm having a very Lex phase at the moment - playing this and Melanie Fiona a lot.

i just realized the producer went to high school w/ me O.o

really great interview

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6693399/angel-haze-back-to-the-woods-exclusive

"yung rap morticia / no bible all scripture / real shit rap god, your favourite rapper's mortician"

this really is everything i hoped dirty gold would be

it's crazy good. her best release so far imo

Halfway through first listen and I fucking love this.

Btw guys, the billboard article clearly says Angel Haze prefers "they" pronouns, so maybe good not to disrespect their wishes on that front?

fuck sorry, my bad

great interview w them

http://www.thefader.com/2015/09/17/angel-haze-back-to-the-woods-interview

i find it v funny that people talk of drake as setting the bar for confessionalism in rap when angel haze exists

i mean sure, but "dirty gold" was so bad it had me ready to revoke my stan card so i don't blame people for losing interest or not talking about them

this is really much much better, and really Dirty Gold was their only "enhh" release so far

I have been caning this today. I'm sort of surprised I like the "singy" songs so much, as they are less my normal wheelhouse but pretty much everything about this record works for me.

Also, thanks Simon for being cool about being pulled up on the pronouns thing.

having read plenty about their experiences making this record I was mortified at myself for the slip tbh

meanwhile I like the sung songs less this time 'round, "Dark Places" excepted (only two listens so far). Good interview, horrible headline.

i generally like angel and ill check this out but them saying this makes me really uncomfortable “Last night I was super, super suicidal,”

obv its healthy to really express ones tru feelings but that strikes me as trivializing & idk if angel was really in that mindstate then get sum help immed dont do interviews to promote your mixtape

Obviously I haven't experienced the massive traumas that Angel Haze has, but having lived a life of feeling suicidal most days and repressing, repressing, always repressing my feelings, from childhood to adulthood, it is fucking refreshing to reach a state where you are able to say stuff like that out loud. Where you no longer give a shit if you are making people uncomfortable by expressing the bad shit in your brain. It's always there. They have said in interviews that they have sought and received help in the past, but help doesn't completely remove your mental health issues. If you didn't do "normal" stuff when in that mindset you wouldn't ever be able to do anything for the rest of your life.

emil.y the only time I had ever heard about angel haze was from professor Jack (nee Judith) Halberstam talking about her and jayZ/kanye and queer identity (with relation mostly to anarchy and otherness) - I know this video is very long but you may find it interesting. Or even VERY interesting, as I do. I'd start the video at around 6:30 if you want to get to the meat but the whole thing is a mindfuck par excellence.

https://witchesunionhall.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/no-church-in-the-wild-queer-anarchy-and-gaga-feminism-by-jack-halberstam/

Possibly too drunk to be watching this but doing it anyway - I like it so far, have heard of Jack Halberstam but never read his books.

J. Halberstam is amazing. I tried to start a conversation on the book Female Masculinity elsewhere (Gaga Feminism is interesting, but a bit of a mess) but it didn't go anywhere.

One of the things I really admire about Jack is Jack's refusal to police (or be policed by) pronouns.

The battle (which I've experienced) over what people call you isn't (in my experience) about the names or the titles; it's about respect. Obviously, refusing to call you by what you've asked is a deliberate move of disrespect. But people who are determined to disrespect you will find (again, in my experience) ways of turning that self-definition into just another way of disrespecting you. I really admire Jack's stance of attempting to remove the power. What matters is how one is treated; the pronoun is a tool, but it's not the thing itself.

Anyway this is off topic so I'm going to go and look for the mixtape. Soundcloud, yeah?

It's on Spotify if that's a thing you do.

Cheers, that's v v useful thanks

jack halberstam is the worst

moonrise kingdom is terrific

getting a bit obsessed with this album. i love when the beats buckle and distort, i love how she turns pain into power both in her metaphors and her narratives, i love that she's so convincing that she even gets away with actually howling like a wolf

I've been playing it non-stop since Thursday, "D-Day," "Exposed," "The Wolves" especially.

despite deep deep reservations due to how much I disliked the previous album, I finally played this

holy shit

This is an incredibly strong contender for my album of the year.

same

i was initially drawn to the hard-ass ones where she rips your face off, but wow, the melodies on this thing as well. seems like the one she took from her unfortunate major label experience was how to write better ~emotional hooks than sia. and the way she switches between rapping and singing works so well every time.

love the recurrent wolves and moons, so many lyrics that stop you in your tracks. "i know n*ggas ignore / that the blood in a queen runs the same in a whore", "my brain is a cage, it's the place where the beasts that i'm battling lay, man it's a wrap, i relax in my rage like a bat or a rat in a trap or a cave", "if suffering makes a god then let me know more of it"...those are just from "on fire". "detox" is fucking epic, "exposed" is just so raw

sorry, they, wasn't thinking

i wasn't really put off by dirty gold bc it's always seemed inevitable they'd make better music outside the major label system

i saw angel live a month or so ago and was somewhat put off by her playing new songs for the first 3/4 of the set and jumping into the audience for the second half of the set, making it impossible to actually see her in a crowd of some 6k
she was okay live but it's a single person hip hop show in a huge crowd, unless you're amazing it's hard for that to be the best possible concert
anyway, i really need to listen to the new one.

So good. In my top 5 for the year to date, for sure. "The Wolves" is :o and don't overlook "Bruises" near the end - a great bit of pop on top of everything else we've been offered up to that point.

in moonrise kingdom its something v obvious but what does the 'you gotta run / or theyll catch us and stop us from growing' sound like? partic how the second half is phrased

http://sobs.com/2015/6177/angel-haze-back-to-the-woods-tour
Angel at SOBs in NYC on November 23 at 8pm
Good option for those of you doing the solo Tday thing in the city; except for her penchant for literally taking herself off the stage and general pontification, she puts on a show

a bunch of November US dates

I like how on “Dark Places,” Haze alternates between rapid, snarled patter and mournful sung verses over nicely programmed instrumentation from Tk Kayembe.

this is a good interview

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/music/angel-haze-interview-at-home-i-m-dead-but-on-stage-i-m-god-a3157611.html

(i'm seeing her tonight, hyped)

Reservation has been snuck onto Spotify, in case that might interest you.

Daaaaaaaamn!

http://thefader-res.cloudinary.com/images/w_760,c_limit/AngelHaze_NFrancis_Resurrection_3mb_yjp6xf/angel-haze-resurrection-single.png

http://www.thefader.com/2016/11/22/angel-haze-resurrection-single

She's the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E6KYHxvEGg

classic

love angel haze

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN_nvLgR2_U

back to the woods is a great slept-on record. Fraught with more paranoia and psychosis than the debut but wonderful all the same

Don't know if it was mentioned on here anywhere, but Angel Haze is now called Roes

https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/pansexual-rapper-angel-haze-officially-changed-name/

Classic classic classic

strong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOycRO6mabo

I have been jamming out to that for most of 2021

hell yeah

very nice

that's great, nice to see she's back, had she sort of dropped out for a while?

i think she poisoned the water a while back by dropping her album online without coordinating with her label.
https://www.mtv.com/news/1719290/angel-haze-dirty-gold-album-leak/

also that album was kind of bad