Look up banks, bank, or Bank in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Banks or The Banks may refer to:

• Bank, a financial institution

People[link]

• Banks (surname), for a list of people with the surname

Placenames[link]

Australia

• Banks, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
• Division of Banks, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wales
• Moa Island (Queensland) or Banks Island

Canada

• Banks Island, one of the Canadian Arctic islands
• Banks Island (British Columbia)
• Banks Peninsula (Nunavut)

New Zealand

• Banks Peninsula, South Island

United Kingdom

• Banks, Cumbria, a village in England
• Banks, Lancashire, a village in England

United States

• Banks, Alabama
• Banks, Oregon
• The Banks, a development project in Cincinnati, Ohio

Vanuatu

• Banks Islands, an island in Vanutau

Other[link]

• Banks Barbados Brewery

See also[link]

• Bank (disambiguation)
• Banks Township (disambiguation)
• Category:Banks, listing of articles on specific financial companies

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Azealia Banks
Banks performing at the NME Awards at the Brixton Academy in London in February 2012
Background information
Also known as	Miss Bank$
Born	May 31, 1991 (age 21)
Origin	Harlem, New York, United States
Genres	Hip hop, house, hip house, dirty rap, electronic
Occupations	Rapper, singer, lyricist
Years active	2009–present
Labels	XL (2009) Interscope (US) (2012–present) Polydor (UK) (2012–present)
Associated acts	Major Lazer Scissor Sisters
Website	azealiabanks.com

Azealia Amanda Banks (born May 31, 1991) is an American rapper, singer and lyricist from Harlem, New York signed to Interscope/Polydor, and formerly known under the pseudonym Miss Bank$. Banks rose in notability in 2011 when she topped NME's "Cool List" for the year. On December 5, 2011, the BBC announced that Banks had been nominated for the Sound of 2012, where she ultimately finished third.^[1] Her debut single, "212" featuring Lazy Jay, was released on December 6, 2011, charting in some European countries.

Biography[link]

1991–2009: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Banks was born in 1991. Her mother raised her and two older sisters in Harlem, after their father died when she was two years old. At a young age she became interested in musical theater, acting, and singing. Aged ten, she began performing in off-Broadway musicals with the Tada! Youth Theater in Lower Manhattan. She had lead roles in three productions (Rabbit Sense, Sleepover, and Heroes) in addition to performing as a soloist. Banks was trained in the performing arts at the LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan. At the age of sixteen, Banks starred in a production of the comedy-noir musical City of Angels. She never finished high school, instead choosing to follow her dream of becoming a recording artist.

Under the moniker 'Miss Bank$', she released her debut recording "Gimme A Chance" onto the internet in February 2009.^[2] The recording was accompanied by "Seventeen", a track produced by American DJ Diplo which sampled the Ladytron song of the same name.^[2] Later that year, Banks signed to record label XL Records and began working with producer Richard Russell; leaving the label later that year due to conflicting ideas.^[1][3]

[edit] 2010–present: Breakthrough and Broke with Expensive Taste

Following her departure from XL Recordings, Banks left behind the 'Miss Bank$' moniker and formally became Azealia Banks, which preceded a move to Montreal; where she began recording music alone. Using Youtube as a portal, Banks uploaded several demo tracks - including "L8R" and a cover of "Slow Hands" by Interpol. In September 2011, Banks released her debut single "212" as a free digital download from her website, which was subsequently officially released on December 6, 2011. The track has received critical acclaim, having been selected as BBC Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw's 'Record of the Week' and placed as #9 on Pitchfork's 'Top 100 Tracks of 2011' and received their Best New Music designation.

Though unsigned at the time, Banks began working with British producer Paul Epworth (of Adele, 21 fame) on a debut studio album. Four tracks from the album are slated as future releases for her February 2012 Two Door Cinema Club tour. It was announced in December 2011 that Banks would feature on "Shady Love", a track from American band Scissor Sisters' fourth studio album, though the feature would remain uncredited. An accompanying music video was released in January 2012 following its radio première from Annie Mac (BBC Radio 1) on January 4,^[4] though the release of the single was cancelled for unconfirmed reasons. It was announced in January 2012 that Banks had begun filming a music video for second single, "Liquorice" in Paris, France - and that Lady Gaga stylist Nicola Formichetti would be joining her as the video's director.^[5]

On January 16, 2012, Banks released the track "NEEDSUMLUV (SXLND)" on the Internet, which coincided with what would have been the thirty-third birthday of the late singer Aaliyah, who is sampled on the track.^[6] "NEEDSUMLUV (SXLND)" was produced by Machinedrum. A week later saw the emergence of a second track entitled "Bambi", which having been produced by Paul Epworth, had been selected as the soundtrack for a Mugler fashion show in Paris.^[7] It was then in February that Banks revealed the title of her upcoming debut album, Broke with Expensive Taste.^[8]

Banks' upcoming release schedule was confirmed via Twitter in May 2012. It included the 1991 extended play, set for a release later that month and Fantastic, a mixtape set for release in the Summer.^[9] Preceeding the release of Fantastic was the track 'Jumanji', which was released online on May 11.^[10]

Artistry[link]

Influences[link]

Banks cites songs by Destiny's Child and Aaliyah as early inspirations. During her teenage years, she listened to Interpol, Bloc Party and Futureheads, and describes Eve, Remy Ma, Lil Kim, M.I.A., Santigold as some of the female artists that have inspired her.^[11][12] She has praised the style of Jay-Z.^[12]

Personal life[link]

Banks publicly confirmed her bisexuality in February 2012 while stating "I'm not trying to be, like, the bisexual, lesbian rapper. I don't live on other people's terms".^[13]

Discography[link]

Extended plays[link]

Mixtapes[link]

Singles[link]

Guest appearances[link]

Music videos[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Tours[link]

• ShockWaves NME Awards Tour^[24] (supporting) (February 2012)
• Azealia Banks Tour^[25] (headlining) (September–October 2012)

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Azealia Banks's channel on YouTube

Jamie Woon (born March 29, 1983^[1]) is a British singer, songwriter and producer signed to Polydor who gained widespread acclaim in 2010 for his single Night Air which was co-produced by Burial, following his previous independent release, Wayfaring Stranger EP.^[2]

The Eurasian son of a Malaysian Chinese father, and Scottish Irish mother (Celtic singer Mae McKenna), he was born and raised in New Malden in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London.^[3] He was educated at Sacred Heart RC Primary School (New Malden), S.T Catherines RC Middle School (Raynes Park) & Wimbledon College (Wimbledon). He later attended the BRIT School, where he graduated the year behind Amy Winehouse, whom he later supported live.^[4][5]

Woon's sound and style is presently described as soul inflected vocals backed by samplers and programming, or a single guitar track. He describes his music as "... R&B, it's groove-based vocal-led music ...".^[3]

On 4 January 2011, the BBC announced that Woon had been placed fourth in the BBC's Sound of 2011 poll.^[4]

Woon's debut album is entitled Mirrorwriting and was released on 18 April 2011 via Polydor Records.^[6]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

Official remixes[link]

• "Video Games" (Jamie Woon Remix) - Lana Del Rey

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jamie Woon on Twitter
• Jamie Woon on Myspace
• Jamie Woon's channel on YouTube
• Jamie Woon's BBC Sound of 2011 page at BBC Online
• Jamie Woon Interview

Dave Hodges (born September 23, 1981, San Jose, California) is a marijuana activist and businessman who founded San Jose's first storefront cannabis collective, SJCBC LLC (the San Jose Cannabis Buyers Collective). As of March 1st, 2011 SJCBC LLC no longer provides cannabis in San Jose, CA. A new collective founded by Dave replaced it, A2C2-the All American Cannabis Club.

See also[link]

• Legal and medical status of cannabis
• Places that have decriminalized non-medical marijuana in the United States
• Removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act

References[link]

External links[link]

• "A2C2 - The All American Cannabis Club"
• "San Jose Cannabis Buyers Collective", SJCBC LLC
• "SanJoseCannabis.org"