Azealia Banks to Star as Aspiring Rapper in RZA-Directed Movie

After releasing her oft-delayed debut album Broke With Expensive Taste and posing for Playboy magazine earlier this year, Azealia Banks is setting sights on launching her acting career in the upcoming movie It Doesn’t Have to Rhyme. As The Hollywood Reporter points out, the film is “similar in tone to 8 Mile” and will follow Banks’ character, an aspiring rapper, as she starts a college poetry class and turns to slam poetry. In addition to Ms. Banks, Common and Jill Scott have joined the cast as well as Lorraine Toussaint of Orange Is the New Black. The movie’s release date has yet to be announced.