It's been nearly three years since Azealia Banks' down n' dirty hit '212' first dropped, a song which promised to be just the first blitz from a rapper who looked set to become a major star but now a series of cancellations and album derailments threaten to send the rapper's career off the rails.
Banks' budding superstardom was apparent during the singer's breathless 15-minute set (yep, seriously) in Whelan's shortly after the release of '212'. A debut album - 'Broke With Expensive Taste' - was in the works, she had become a fixture in nightclubs the world over and her Twitter account was one of the most interesting reads online. The sky was the limit.
Azealia Banks performs '212' live in Whelan's
Fast forward to now, Azealia Banks has released few more singles but none have hit the heights of '212' and her album has been subject to a seemingly never-ending stream of delays since it was first worked on way back in 2010.
The first rule of marketing in this game is to strike while the iron is hot. Ideally, Broke With Expensive Taste would have been released in the months after '212' became the most talked about song of 2011 and the first months of 2012. Now, some two years later, has audience apathy taken over? It would appear so in Norway, at least.
Banks was booked to play a Norwegian festival but - surprise, surprise - the show didn't go ahead. Why? Because Banks allegedly didn't show up.
A message from the festival's promoters read: "Due to unforeseen reasons, Azealia Banks is not going to make it to Tromoya in time. We are of course terribly sorry for this."
A pretty standard announcement, right? Well it seems the reason for Banks' lack of enthusiasm can be encapsulated in this picture below. This is now the THIRD time that Banks has cancelled a Norwegian show, by the way. Promoters beware.
AZEALIA BANKS IS PLAYING HERE IN 5 MIN PMG pic.twitter.com/Lv53OnmWJt
— (@cherdelrey) July 3, 2014