This Is Our Jam: Angel Haze, “New York”

Tomorrow, 21-year-old rapper Angel Haze will release Reservation, a technically assured fireball of an EP that sounds like the exact opposite of its title. While a lot has been made of Haze’s difficult childhood in a military family and forced membership to an oppressive church, Haze’s deep-cutting rhymes are less about emotional excavation than they are a cocksure self-introduction. Lead single “New York” is probably the best example of this, with lines like “I’m Satan, and I’ma take your ass to church now” rolling-up contradiction and braggadocio into one hard-hitting pronouncement. Later when Haze boasts, “It’s just me, myself and I / Talk tough shit and I’ma beat you till you die” over the track’s minimal beat, there’s no question if she can back it up. We're more than happy to step out of her way.