Azealia Banks vs. Everyone: Analyzing Her Greatest Internet Feuds
[Music] how do you feel about constantly being scrutinized i don't care your problems with me are not my problems those are your problems we all know and love or hate azalea banks her internet antics have earned her more attention in the public eye than her witty confident and powerful rap lyrics to be on social media is to be aware of at least one of azealia's internet scandals this video is not a biography of her career but an analysis of some of her most notable feuds to see what truth lies in azealia's rapid fire rants and unabashed callouts each feud will be analyzed to get to the bottom of azealia's point and see if she was justified in setting twitter on fire by sharing yet another opinion of hers few of azealia banks's rivalries are as long-standing and well-known as her feud with iggy azalea aka igloo australia it all started back in 2012 when banks expressed discontent over iggy azalea's appearance on the cover of xxl magazine as part of 2012's freshman class banks tweeted iggy azalea on the xxl freshman list is all wrong how can you endorse a white woman who calls herself a runaway slave master in any capacity kanye shrugged iggy azalea is a hustle gang artist so t.i backed his artist and defended her in an interview with dj drama he said strategically if she really cares about a freshman cover maybe she could hope that you know she'll suck enough to get shelved and the next year when the freshman cover comes back around maybe she'll still be a freshman t.i then said which brings me to my next philosophy if you spend half your day getting money and the other half of your day counting money you ain't got no time in your day to worry about anybody else iggy responded by saying this is the thing but this is my day and it's my achievement you have to work on your own achievements with all due respect so instead of worrying about who else is on there you should just be happy i'm on there as a woman for women and if you want to have an achievement work and earn your own achievements i can't take what's meant for you and you can't take what's meant for me go girl give us nothing when in doubt play the women should support women row thanks clarified her dislike of iggy azalea was in regards to her slave master lyric not her being a woman or a white one at that banks tweeted sorry guys but i'm pro-black girl she continued on twitter by saying i'm not anti-white girl but i'm also not here for anyone outside of my culture trying to tribulate very serious aspects of it iggy responded race to me is a low blow that people just use when they have nothing real to hate on there are a million and one stereotypes people try to put on me every day how a woman should act how an australian should act how a white person should act what real rap is what we consider to be beautiful i'm blind to all of them in my creative process a stereotype should never hinder art if you're brave about it and i try to be joined back to the black lives matter braver than the marines if you ask me iggy azalea has said other questionable and racially insensitive statements especially in her earlier days on twitter iggy has since apologized for those tweets but she was a grown woman when she wrote them in 2014 iggy azalea and ti released their single no mediocre and it reignited the feud between iggy azalea and azealia banks no mediocre contain misogynistic lyrics about what physical features ti deems mediocre and a woman i'll let you have fun looking them up for yourself banks didn't take too kindly to the collaboration between the two hustle gang artists responding by making disparaging comments about iggy and tiny ti's wife calling iggy mediocre and talents and tiny mediocre and looks she also called tiny illiterate when asked about azealia's comments t.i
pretended to not know who she was when he got his memory back he also made an instagram post where he called her names in the way an 11 year old would in her now infamous hot 97 interview banks explained ti's hypocrisy in sticking up for iggy azalea when white people who run vh1 ridiculed his wife on tv by making fun of the fact that she can't read what and they hear you got [ __ ] [ __ ] head ass ti like see are you out here trying to [ __ ] promote this white [ __ ] like they got your wife on vh1 why do you got your wife on vh1 and that [ __ ] can't [ __ ] read azalea also said these endorsements give a platform to non-black rappers who couldn't care less about paying homage to rap culture while overlooking and taking space away from black artists and black issues tia never addressed the inherent racism colorism and misogyny that he has which are present in the name calling against cezilia banks him being so quick to back iggy and his no mediocre lyrics i genuinely don't think he ever will as we've come to see in the past few years etie's character is rather questionable when it comes to his views on women he and his wife have been hit with multiple assault allegations and ta himself was heavily criticized for admitting to demanding personal health information about his daughter for years banks was not the only rapper who didn't appreciate iggy azalea's meteoric rise to fame and felt as if her career was taking off at a rate that didn't necessarily match her talent my point is what i want the world to know about nicki minaj is when you hear nicki minaj spit nicki minaj wrote it multiple black female artists including erica badu k michelle nicki minaj and recently lizzo have felt like their years of hard work were overlooked while being a white conventionally attractive woman helped iggy's career skyrocket i'm a fan of her music but i have to admit that this is likely true i can completely see where azealia is coming from though she could have done without the name calling azealia is right in saying white women often get opportunities that black women don't black women are often eager to jump to the defense of white women when they won't do the same for black women at the time many people pointed banks out as the aggressor in this feud but in recent years many have come to side with her stance on cultural appropriation massage noir and white people wanting a place in black culture but nothing to do with black issues it's worth it to note that t.i has since referred to signing iggy azalea to hustle gang as a massive blunder in his career and a regret of his this prompted azalea to call t.i a misogynist in return both azealia banks and iggy azalea have said that they're open to collaborating with each other now which i would love to hear iggy has since gone independent and no longer works with or speaks to t.i azalea and t.i don't speak no word yet on tiny's literacy skills speaking of rappers whose careers took off very quickly azealia invited cardi b into the ring in february of 2018 after accusing her of having a ghostwriter this all started when jerobi from a tribe called quest posted a video of cardita's instagram zelia then commented on the post saying ew you're getting unfollowed for posting this illiterate untalented rat this was completely unprovoked she then posted multiple other comments saying cardi was not a true artist and mocking her new veneers zelia then doubled down on her attack of cardi b during a breakfast club interview in may of 2018.
she expanded further on what prompted her to make through instagram comments by saying i think that it's very concerning to me that this this conversation surrounding black women's culture like changes from [Music] i don't know because i feel like maybe two years ago the conversation surrounding black women's culture was really reaching an all-time high and we were really like discussing you know our power amongst ourselves and you know beyonce came out with lemonade and like there was just this really really really intelligent conversation going on nationally and then everything just kind of changed and then it was like banks added that invasion of privacy was a culture shock to her banks added i don't understand how we go from beyonce's lemonade and solange black lives matter and all of these conversations to this i know we're not monolithic but come on i just don't understand the extreme lack of couth i've never seen that at the forefront of female rap i didn't know the bar would be lowered so much it was kind of like a culture shock though banks isn't really in the place to call out anyone for their lack of coup she's far from the only person to criticize cardi b for her loud boisterous behavior that people often claim is embarrassing to black women i just cardi defended herself in regards to this by saying you busy trying to be a voice of reason and a representative for women of color when you can't even reason with yourself you can't understand where your own insecurities come from and why you're so unhappy in your own skin she wrote later she added just because i mix a few words up forget to use commas or misspell a few words doesn't make me illiterate and doesn't make me stupid and because i laugh a little harder or talk a little louder doesn't make me a caricature she entered her lengthy post by saying you think you're advocating for women and you're doing the opposite i pray you find peace in your own heart and reason in your mind pray for your own success before you pray for the downfall of others though cardi is more than justified in defending herself it's a little disappointing to see someone else purposely miss the point because women should support women if that were true cardi would listen to the multiple women making this argument instead of shutting them down she misses the mark and willfully misses azealia's point cardi knows when and how to put on this persona and is never acknowledged that she can get away with it while her darker skin counterparts can't thanks because i mean for every cardi b you got a scissor and you got issa rayne you got a ava duvernay and you got tiffany haddish when you say right about her music and what she raps about no no no no no no no no not at all not at all i'm just talking about like this caricature you get what i mean this caricature of a black woman that black women themselves would never be able to get away with you know cardi has also called darker skinned black women roaches and gorillas while profiting off of their culture and aesthetic both of these names are racially charged and hint that some colorism is evident on kari's part it's not that cardi can't speak this way but it's that when darker skinned black women do the same thing they don't get the opportunities that she does instead of actually taking the time to reflect on this and give black women the space to share their thoughts cardi acts like anyone who points this out is attacking her personally a girl happy for me she gonna have b for me forever admitted part of banks's attack was personal rather than the colorism itself azealia banks is totally correct in saying that the way cardiac would be inexcusable for a dark-skinned woman and wouldn't earn her any of the grammys or accolades that cardi b has this is evident in the differing public perceptions of cardi b and azalea banks while cardi is constantly embroiled in conflict multiple excuses have been made for her behavior as if her upbringing or new found fame are an excuse there are multiple instances where cardi b has been physically violent on camera and at public events yet she is still treated as an a-list celebrity at the same time banks is only treated like a crazy person on the internet who doesn't have a crew outside of social media scandals and she's also treated like the laughing stock of hip-hop one could argue that that's because banks has made racist and homophobic comments outside of the general chaos she causes on the internet but cardi has made equally bigoted comments and is also admitted to assaulting men a crime banks does not have under her belt 2018 was clearly a busy year for azealia banks and her twitter accounts by the end of the year one of her longtime friends in the music industry became her sworn enemy it all began in the fall of 2018 when lana del rey made her disapproval of kanye west endorsement of donald trump known by commenting on one of west's pro-trump instagram posts she said trump becoming our president was a loss for the country but your support of him is a loss for the culture i can only assume you relate to his personality on some level delusions of grandeur extreme issues of narcissism none of which would be a talking point if we weren't speaking about the man leading our country if you think it's all right to support someone who believes it's okay to grab a woman by the just because he's famous then you need an intervention as much as he does something so many narcissists will never get because there just isn't enough help for the issue i think now is a good time to mention that lana del rey kanye west azillia banks and donald trump are all gemini's though kanye was silent azealia stepped in on his behalf tweeting wow okay lana this would be cute if you were consistent with your outrage and refused to collab with asap rocky who has physically assaulted women too to me this just looks like the typical white woman taking a weakened target to pretend to be an ally you approve of asap rocky because his victims weren't white you're exactly the kind of thought police kanye is fighting against banks is referring to lana del rey's public friendship with and multiple collaborations with rapper asap rocky lana condemned trump for behaving inappropriately with women when asap rocky has been accused of doing the same and lana has never spoken up about it in addition lana heavily implied that kanye's support of trump was even more disappointing because he's black i have no idea what else she could mean by calling it a loss for the culture coincidentally asap rocky has been in hot water himself for making anti-black comments and lana said nothing azilia's point was that it's completely unfair and hypocritical to work with someone who has been accused of the same behavior she claims to hate azalea also implied lana only gets involved in politics when she believes there's an easy target to make herself look better or correct which kanye west was in this instance lana responded with a series of tweets that anyone in their right mind would consider to be threats her twitter rampage started with a tweet saying you know the addie pull up anytime say it to my face but if i were you i wouldn't she also made reference to azealia destroying her own reputation in the hip-hop community by saying thanks you could have been the greatest female rapper alive but you blew it don't take it out on the only person who had your back the two had previously worked together on the blue jeans remix in 2012 and the pair promised future collaborations that i'm sure we are not getting at this point lana tweeted another thinly veiled threat saying i won't not f you the f up this is a lot coming from a person who cried publicly two years later about the fact that the music industry did not allow her to be the delicate woman she claims to be banks responded with tweets mocking lana's weight in appearance and lana fired back by insinuating banks was mentally ill and her medication was not working it's not been publicly confirmed whether azalea has any diagnosed mental illnesses or is taking any medications for them in true azalea bank's fashion she claimed she would sue lana del rey for threatening her to which lana told banks to ensure her lawyer that her tweets were promises not threats it's been three years since the incident and banks has yet to take legal action against lana del rey lana del rey has proven over the years that she isn't a beacon of racial consciousness who can forget when she shut down instagram for a few days with her question for the culture which was less of a question and more of her publicly admitting she doesn't understand how white privilege works while simultaneously ignoring the struggles female musicians of color which apparently now includes ariana grande faced regularly it's exactly her white womanhood that allows lana to tweet at azealia threatening her physically and facing no repercussions stan twitter simply found lana's tweets funny if not iconic and chalked it up to azealia banks being put in her place yet again little thought was given to lana's obvious hypocrisy in violent tweets simply because she isn't perceived that way by the mainstream media while banks is clearly azealia was somewhat correct in pointing out how weak lana de rey's politics are something that she has only proven time and time again in the years to follow this now infamous twitter war most recently azealia banks has found herself in a brief battle with the anti-michelle obama candace owens owens who enjoys being a tommy larry knockoff i want to know which nanny which chef which which housekeeper would show for which secret service agent which gardener which landscaper is oppressing michelle obama antagonizing black people in general tweeted this past june her feelings that juneteenth was a divisive and pointless holiday and she would be holding off on her celebrations until the 4th of july she then doubled down by saying slavery in america was not a big deal as slavery has been a common practice historically and currently this was especially poor timing because 2021 marks the first year juneteenth is considered a federal holiday since president biden signed the juneteenth national independence day act into law not one to let even the most ignorant tweets pass her azalea banks caught one of owen's tweet and responded with a vivid and hilarious reminder that owens would have had nothing to celebrate on july 4th 1776 as she being a black woman most likely would have still been enslaved azalea spent quite a bit of her day on instagram writing candace owens a day in the life of a slave with unforgettable quotes including according to this logic on july 4th 1776 you would still be enslaved most likely on the verge of starvation due to all of america's food supply having been prioritized for the war while you hand sew american flags and struggle to nurse some depressed 24 year old white widow sickly child and you will be watched closely by her irate sunburned and whiskey soaked 89 year old uncle to be sure you do not sneak a single biscuit or finger full of rube to yourself if this doesn't prove azealia is a great writer i don't know what does owens did not respond to banks and she has since deleted the instagram post in regards to the situation banks also said about candace owens you're really picking on black people for weird white internet users for their entertainment is that what it means to be a black conservative that's not what it means to be a black conservative that you just poke fun at black people that is not it though it's definitely exaggerated bangs response is based on the reality of what slavery would have been like and explains why black liberation is important enough to be celebrated black liberation is the reason both banks and owens are able to have their careers in differing opinions that they do candace complains about divisiveness but her tweet was put out to be divisive contrarian and upset people there's room for nuance black americans can celebrate the 4th of july but it shouldn't be at the expense of making fun of or invalidating blacks who celebrate juneteenth not all black people have to celebrate juneteenth but there is room to celebrate both if you choose to do so but to go out of your way to be ignorant about the purpose of the holiday is embarrassing then again embarrassing is definitely on brand for candace owens it would take days to go through each and every one of azalea banks's online arguments though some of her online rampages are completely unjustified and unprovoked it's unfair to say that azalea banks is always in the wrong she often makes very valid criticisms when it comes to race namely the role a lot of black men and non-black women play in the mistreatment of and perpetuation of harmful stereotypes towards black women to acknowledge this is not to say that banks is correct or justified in everything she says and does however it is worth it to point out that she is not the only celebrity who has been seen on multiple occasions being reckless on the internet many celebrities who have had multiple scandals under their belts and allegations against them have not seen their careers suffer in the way that banks has even if they're now getting their comeuppance they still weren't written off and canceled as quickly as azealia was many of these people have a larger platform and more public support than banks could have ever hoped to have multiple other artists in the public eye have lost their credibility long ago but still have the opportunity to be supported by their labels and a majority of the public and received the positive press and attention that has been denied to azalea banks i'm not sure what the future holds for azealia banks hopefully we'll see a second album soon and she'll do her best to remain out of trouble on the internet until then we can hope the days of her more ridiculous scandals are behind her and a more positive less pugnacious version of miss banks emerges
2021-11-04 14:55
