Azealia Banks

About

Azealia Banks is an American rapper best known for her 2012 debut extended play (EP) 1991. Online, Banks has been involved in several controversies on Twitter, where she has drawn criticism for defending Bill Cosby, attacking various celebrities and posting racial and homophobic slurs.

Online History

In May 2010, Banks launched the @azealiabanks^[3] Twitter feed, garnering upwards of 564,000 followers in the next six years. On September 12th, 2011, the music video for the song "212" was uploaded to the Azealia Banks YouTube channel,^[8] where it garnered upwards of 113 million views and 67,000 comments in the next five years. In December, the track was released as the lead single for her EP 1991. The song received critical acclaim, and subsequently ranked on various "best tracks of 2011" lists published that year.

On August 8th, 2012, Banks released the music video for the song "Liquorice" on the AzealiaBanksVEVO YouTube channel, receiving more than 13 million views and 12,800 comments in four years (shown below, left). On November 14th, 2014, she released the video for the song "Chasing Time" (shown below, right). Over the next two years, the video accumulated over 5.2 million views and 7,800 comments.

On March 27th, 2015, Banks released the music video for her track "Yung Rapunxel" (shown below, left). Later that week, she released the video for her single "Ice Princess" (shown below, right). Over the next 14 months, the videos received upwards of 1.47 million and 3.7 million views respectively.

Controversies

Homophobic Statements

In January 2013, Banks engaged in a Twitter dispute with entertainment blogger Perez Hilton, during which she referred to him as a homophobic slur and subsequently told him to "gobble a dick."^[6] On January 2nd, 2015, Vice^[7] published an article by staff writer Mitchell Sunderland titled "My Bizarre Twitter Beef with Azealia Banks and Her Homophobia," which highlighted an insulting Twitter exchange between Sunderland and Banks. In September, Banks purportedly called a Delta Air Lines flight attendant a "fucking faggot" during a confrontation on a flight to Los Angeles, California.

Bill Cosby Defense

On December 4th, 2014, Banks posted a tweet commenting on the Bill Cosy rape allegations, stating "them bitches frontin' like they wasn't trying to get some of the pudding pop!" (shown below).^[4] Many subsequently criticized Banks for the tweet, accusing her of victim blaming.^[5]

Donald Trump Endorsement

On February 1st, 2016, Banks tweeted that she planned to vote for 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, subsequently adding that "Trump is the only one who truly has the balls to bust up big business" and that "Donald Trump is evil like America is evil and in order for America to keep up with itself it needs him."^[2]

Zayn Malik Twitter Rant

On May 9th, 2016, pop singer Zayn Malik from One Direction released the music video for his song "Like I Would" on YouTube (shown below). Within three days, the video gained over 3.4 million views and 22,100 comments.

The following day, Banks posted a multi-pane image comparings stills from the "Like I Would" to her 2015 music video for the song "Yung Rapunxel," along with the caption "I'm not mad about this though. Zayn is a cutie pie" (shown below).

Following the Instagram post, Malik posted two tweets which some speculated were responding to Banks Instagram post (shown below).

That same day, Banks posted a series of tweets attacking Malik, referring to him with racial and homophobic slurs. Meanwhile, Banks began arguing with Skai Jackson as well, during which she called the Disney actress as "little black bitch." That day, her Twitter account was suspended and her Instagram page was made private.

Grimes-Elon Musk Controversy

On August 12th, 2018, Azealia Banks posted several text-based posts on a series of since-deleted Instagram Stories, stating that she had spent the weekend with fellow recording artist Grimes and Tesla-founder Elon Musk at Musk's house. During her stay, she says, that Musk was "scrounging for investors," folllowing a recent decision to abruptly threatened to take Tesla private the week prior. Additionally, Banks speculates that Musk used psychedelic drugs during her stay and alleges that she was flown out not to collaborate on music with Grimes, but rather for "some weird threesome sex shit."

While the posts have since been deleted, several people on Twitter have posted screenshots of the messages. Twitter^[9] user @sadhoeflo posted screenshots of the posts and added the caption, "Azealia Banks exposing Elon Musk for tweeting while on Acid.. while she was waiting for Grimes at her home … whewwww lord 😳." The post (shown below) received more than 1,200 retweets and 4,800 likes in 24 hours.

Speaking to Business Insider,^[10] Banks elaborated on her story. She said, "They bring me out there on the premise that we would hang and make music. But his dumbass kept tweeting and tucked his dick in between his ass cheeks once shit hit the fan. I saw him in the kitchen tucking his tail in between his legs scrounging for investors to cover his ass after that tweet He was stressed and red in the face. He's not cute at all in person."

Musk has denied ever meeting Banks. A spokesperson for him said, "Elon has never even met Ms. Banks or communicated with her in any way."

2022 Instagram Ban

On October 15th, 2022, Azealia Banks was suspended from Instagram after she chimed in on the Nicki Minaj vs. Latto beef, with some alleging that the suspension came after she was mass-reported by Nicki fans who were displeased with her criticism of the rapper. Pop Crave's official Twitter handle made a post regarding the ban on the same day, gathering over 90,000 likes in two days (seen below).

On October 16th, Azealia Banks made a brief comeback on the platform, changing her iconic "black screen text" font from typewriter to comic sans, and posting a story that read, "You thought… lol." The comeback was shortlived, and as of October 17th, Banks has since been suspended from the photo sharing app again.

Personal Life

Banks was born on May 31st, 1991 in Manhattan, New York. In a 2012 Q&A with Rolling Stone,^[1] Banks revealed she identifies as bisexual. In December 2014, Banks publicly declared support for $100 trillion to be paid to African Americans as financial reparations for slavery in the United States. Banks has previously dated "Ryder Ripps,": creator of the "Deal WIth It" meme, and released an audio sex tape as an NFT. in collaboration with him

Related Memes

Breakfast Club Interview / "What Now?"

On May 11th, 2018, Azealia Banks went on The Breakfast Club for an interview where host Charlamagne asks says, “One of our interns here, she says that you make music for the gays." To this, Banks responds, "Yes, I do," and after a pause, "What's wrong with that." She ignores the subsequent back walking the hosts attempt to do, and simply says, "So what now?"
The interaction can be accessed via a video uploaded by the Breakfast Club's official YouTube^[11] page. The video has gathered over 2 million views in four years (seen below).

The Girls Are Fighting

On September 8th, 2018, Azealia Banks went on Instagram Live to comment on the physical altercation between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj at Fashion Week, delivering the often quoted line "What is the tea, the girls are fighting!" The video can be accessed via YouTube reupload (seen below).

"Did It Give Ariani? Did I Give Arianka Or No?"

In March 2019, Azealia Banks posted a video to Instagram making jokes about her hairstyle, and asking her viewers if she looks like Ariana Grande. The video can be accessed via reupload to YouTube (seen below).

Machete Dance

In December 2022, Banks posted a video of herself holding a machete and dancing to a song from Beyonce's album Lion King: The Gift to her Instagram. The video can be accessed via reupload to YouTube (seen below).

January 6 Insurrection Stories

On January 6th, 2021, Azealia Banks posted a series of stories reacting to media coverage of the January 6th Storming Of The Capitol. The posts were particularly notable due to her assertion that the participants in the insurrection were on "meth." Her stories can be accessed via reupload to TikTok (seen below).

Search Interest

External References