Azealia Banks Hit Rock Bottom

Azealia Banks is cocky as you-know-what. But the hip hop upstart says that before recording her breakout single "212," she was in a downward spiral professionally and personally. Which is why she decided to come out swinging.

“Nobody was listening to my music. I had been dropped from [the English record label] XL," she says. "My manager dropped me. My boyfriend left me. I was starting to accept that my career was never gonna happen. So the song was just me, like, ‘F**k y’all. Y’all not gonna help me? I’m gonna get it myself.’”

Banks went on to become a YouTube sensation and then inked a deal with Interscope. Guess she got the last laugh.