While the pop world’s overburdened with up and comers reaching critical status in record time, none has a more interesting backstory than 20-year-old MC Angel Haze. Growing up as a follower of the Greater Apostolic Faith, known for its conservative dress code and strict interpretations of scripture, Haze and her family were eventually ostracized. With that rejection still fresh, Haze enrolled in school in Washington, DC, but dropped out after years of bullying. It was at that point she began filming videos from her living room, focusing a lifetime of pain into efforts like “Fuck Who Likes YOU!” and “If You’re Contemplating Suicide”.
Haze will take her angst-laden sound outside the home with the release of her debut EP, Reservation, on July 17th via True Panther/Noizy Cricket/Biz 3. The effort’s first single, “New York”, is a definitive example of Haze’s half-rapped, half-spoken word style, regularly covering adolescent topics like unrequited love and parental issues with a belying depth.
Jumping off a sample from Gil Scott-Heron’s “New York Is Killig Me”, Haze’s rhymes are a weird mixture of the bizarre and the boastful, referring to herself as Satan while making proclamations like “I am, a lyrical intrusion/You bitches can’t see me like I’m an illusion/I hop up on your face and do my motherf**kin’ two-step/Till I knock the meat out like a motherf**kin’ toothpick”. Her rapid-fire cadence and unassuming-yet-street-savvy flow are a perfect balance to the beat’s playful, double-dutch-inspired hand claps. Stream it below.
Reservation EP Tracklist:
01. This Is Me
02. Wicked Moon (feat. Nicole Way)
03. Chi (Need To Know)
04. Supreme
05. New York
06. Hot Like Fire
07. Werkin’ Girls
08. Gypsy Letters
09. Jungle Fever Remix (feat. Kool A.D.)
10. Smiles and Hearts
11. Castle On A Cloud
12. Sufferings First
