Was Azealia Banks new album worth the wait?

Azealia Banks first announced her debut album would be called "Broke With Expensive Taste" in early 2012. In the time since, Apple have released five different iPhones, Egypt has had four different heads of state, even the world's most famous bachelor George Clooney got married. But still, Banks and her album were nowhere to be seen.

The Harlem girl definitely took her time but after finally releasing the "Broke With Expensive Taste" without warning on iTunes on Thursday afternoon, she has finally revealed just what she's been doing for all this time. The answer is, a hell of a lot, and most of it has been worth waiting for.

Her debut is not just an album by the latest hip-hop wannabe, it's a stylistically schizophrenic collection by an artist who is tuned into almost every genre of music you can imagine. It's no wonder Banks' record deal with Interscope (who were originally meant to release the album) fell through, because there's no telling what she's likely to do next.

Over the course of 16 tracks, the 23-year old touches on UK garage beats during "Desperado," glitchy electro with "Idle Delilah," Southern trap on "Bbd" and even brings in a dissonant, techno-punk spirit to "Heavy Metal And Reflective" which captures her rapping like a hip-hop cyborg. There's even a cover of psychedelic pop-pervert Ariel Pink on the '60s, girl-group tribute "Nude Beach A Go-Go." It's one of the album's few throwaway moments, but nevertheless underlines how excitingly fearless Banks is.

Lyrically, Banks has retained the amusingly bitchy and often downright filthy lip that made the world take notice (especially on the breakthrough single "212" featuring Lazy Jay which is included on the album). The shade she throws on "Wallace" is not for the easily-offended but will leave the rest of us sniggering like teenagers, while the Latin rhythms of "Gimme A Chance" is where Banks reveals that she's almost as confident when rapping in Spanish as she is in English.

There's never any time to get comfortable on "Broke With Expensive Taste"; Banks seems to know that we've been waiting and now, she's repaid our patience with a white-knuckle ride inside the mind of an ambitious and over-stimulated young lady. Maybe kids these days don't have attention spans, but listening to this, you'll start to wonder if that's actually a bad thing.