Music News

Year: 2012

Azealia Banks initially showed admiration for Lil’ Kim, but that quickly changed when a possible collaboration between the two rappers didn’t come to fruition.

This resulted in Banks going on an inevitable Twitter rant, with comments like, “Everyone knows Lil’ Kim doesn’t write her own raps and I saw this as a faster more efficient way of getting the track done.”

Lil’ Kim took the high road and didn’t respond, and instead released a statement.

“My client and Azealia have NEVER spoke to one another or met AT ALL,” publicist CJ Carter wrote at the time. “Kim was actually very flattered [by] Azealia’s public admiration for her, which is why it’s so hard to understand how someone who claims to be a true Lil’ Kim fan could flip the script so easily on someone who was supposedly their idol.”

Year: 2012

The 2012 squabble between Banks and Dominique Young Unique started over lyrics from Banks’ “F— Up the Fun,” where she spits, “I might dance on these n—-s, but the gun’s in the butt.”

Young Unique argued that she came up with the line first. Banks responded, tweeting, “No honey.. You’re reaching very very far. I like your music. But no im sorry. You’re not getting any credit there.”

Young Unique laughed it off, responding with an off-color remark.

Year: 2012

This beef started when Kreayshawn retweeted a tweet from adult site Pornhub, which included a link to Banks’ song “212” and a reference to her lyrics.

Banks took this as an insult and attacked her on Twitter, writing, “You’re a dumb bi—. And you can’t rap. I’ll sit on your face. … Fall back slut.”

Kreayshawn responded with confusion, writing that she only retweeted the link because she liked Banks’ music. The misunderstanding ended seven months later when Banks issued an apology.

Year: 2012

In 2012, Banks was offered the opportunity to accompany Nicki Minaj on tour in Europe — an invitation Banks declined, because she was finishing her debut album. Minaj later tweeted “#ManTheseBi—esDelirious,” allegedly in response to Banks’ decision.

Banks responded as if Minaj had actually uttered her name, with a string of tweets laced with suggestions such as, “Use good grammar when insulting others” and “I don’t believe ‘Rap game’ hierarchy……….Sorry.”

Fortunately, five years later, the two squashed their beef after Banks sent Minaj a DM saying, “I really do enjoy your artistry and think you’re so intelligent and clever. You have a really brilliant art mind and often times remind me a lot of myself.”

Surprisingly, Minaj responded, calling Banks “very talented & very smart” and advising her to “focus on what really matters from now on.”

Year: 2012

In 2012, Banks took to Twitter to define the meaning of the word vamp: “A very sexually/financially powerful woman who is usually characterized by a penchant for dark things; nighttime, witchcraft, .. Etc.,” she wrote.

Jim Jones then responded to a fan tweet, noting that he had come up with the concept with his 2013 song “Vamp Life.” This led to Jones and Banks arguing over who should get credit.

Year: 2013

In April 2013, rapper A$AP Rocky gave an interview to Couveter in which he suggested dark-skinned women shouldn’t wear purple lipstick. Though not aimed directly at Banks, she took it personally and responded.

“Lol @ asap rockys lipstick advice,” she tweeted then. “Some people should just come out of the closet.”

Year: 2013

Banks took aim at Pharrell after — according to her — he failed to promote a song they worked on together called “ATM Jam” that Skateboard P produced and sang the hook on.

“The reason ATM jam did poorly is because pharell changed his mind about wanting to be associated with me after he had his lite skin comeback,” she tweeted in November 2013.

She then tweeted another charged message directed at Pharrell: “Lite skin n—as are funny. But f— it what’s new? Azealia Banks having to scrape claw and fight for what she wants. This is normal for me now. Giving a f—, f—s sh– up for me.”

Year: 2013

Banks and Angel Haze opened the new year by releasing diss tracks aimed at each other and engaged in a nasty back-and-forth on Twitter. Things got out of hand when Banks used a homophobic slur in response to blogger Perez Hilton after he expressed his dislike of Banks and her beef with Haze.

Haze later removed her end of the Twitter exchange and focused her tweets on other subjects, including her tour dates.

She also issued an apology. “I really do apologize for all of the stuff that has happened recently,” Haze wrote. “I don’t like the fact that I was a bully in a certain way and I don’t like the way that I came off,” the MC said in a video message to fans, without mentioning Banks by name.

Year: 2013

The beef between Banks and Allen began in 2013 when Banks called the singer’s then-husband, Sam Cooper, ugly. As if that weren’t enough, Banks went even further and insulted the looks of Allen’s children. Allen responded, tweeting, “I’ve had 2 kids since 212 dropped and i bet my my album still comes out 1st. bi— is scared of the ball. OUT.”

Year: 2013

In March 2013, Rita Ora posted a photo of herself wearing jelly shoes. Banks was not having it. “@RitaOra I already did the jellies last year girl,” she tweeted. “Try again. I can’t with these girls.”

The back-and-forth took a nasty turn away from footwear when Banks also tweeted, “She’s mad she’s Rihanna’s understudy. She’s been TRYING IT on this tour man…..Lol Rita Ora is so thirsty. She climbed over the wall of my dancers dressing room to snap photos.”

Allegedly, Ora texted Banks saying, “At the end of the day I don’t know who the f— you think you are secondly you don’t know me I’ve done nothin’ but try b nice to u 3rdly ur dancers were talkn to me further more I’ll see ur ass at the motherf—in concert.”

All of this has since been deleted from public record, but still exists here.

Year: 2014

During one of Banks and Iggy Azalea’s Twitter spats, Action Bronson chastised his followers for mentioning his name in the same breath as the two female rappers. Banks didn’t waste any time replying, calling him a “bootleg ghost face” and said that she could rap better “on a track any given Sunday.” Their exchange only escalated, with Bronson saying that the Devil lives between Banks’ legs.

Banks then called Bronson a “coward” for attempting to apologize to her through friends. “Action Bronson is trying to apologize to me by texting a mutual friend of ours and saying he’s sorry and shouldn’t have said anything to me,” she tweeted at the time.

Year: 2014

In 2014, Banks said that Tameka “Tiny” Cottle had “meth face.” Tiny’s husband, T.I., responded via Instagram saying, “U musty-mouthed-thot-bot-bad-body-syphilis-lipped-rectum-vomit-unimportant-ugggggly-monstrosity-of-a-maggot-a** BIIII******HHHH!!!!!! If u speak ill of my family again….. I WILL END YOU!!!!!! #OnPHIL #OnDOE #NoBuuulllsh– people fall down stairs daily…. U better watch yo step,u ungly-ass Gremlin-baby #nerveofdisCretin #f—outtahea.”

To read Banks’ extensive response to that, including a quaint “At least I can read! LOL,” go here.

But this wasn’t the first time the two exchanged words. Back in 2012, when Banks bashed Iggy Azalea’s placement on the XXL Freshman cover, T.I. came to his artist’s defense (Azalea was signed to T.I.’s Grand Hustle imprint), telling Banks that she should hope to get shelved so that she could have a chance of making the next year’s Freshman cover.

Year: 2015

Following a Sway in the Morning freestyle in which the Detroit rapper mentioned Rita Ora, Caitlyn Jenner, and Banks, she took to Twitter and said, “Eminem, you could be my little wrinkly faced lover in the wee hours…You cute…BUT!!!!!: …….. You still chose to make a joke of something that wasn’t funny. Making fun of a woman who was knocked out cold bc she was unable to defend herself. I have been a victim of domestic violence and it’s just not funny. PLUS: you go after unsuspecting women and use them as jokes in ur raps but I bet you’d NEVER press JAY-Z in that way.”

Year: 2015

In January 2015, Banks took exception to something Kendrick said in his Billboard cover story. “I wish somebody would look in our neighborhood knowing that it’s already a situation, mentally, where it’s f—ed up,” Lamar told Billboard. “What happened to [Michael Brown] should’ve never happened. Never. But when we don’t have respect for ourselves, how do we expect them to respect us? It starts from within. Don’t start with just a rally, don’t start from looting — it starts from within.”

Banks tweeted indirectly in response, with a barrage of related messages: “‘When we don’t respect ourselves how can we expect them to respect us’ dumbest shit I’ve ever heard a black man say… Lol do you know about the generational effects of poverty, racism and discrimination?.. There are things in society that benefit a select few of us. fine…. But don’t put down the rest by saying they don’t respect themselves… HOW DARE YOU open ur face to a white publication and tell them that we don’t respect ourselves…. Speak for your f—ing self.”

For the full rant, read here.

Year: 2015

In 2015, Erykah Badu responded to a fan who wondered if she’s ever given Banks’ music a try. “Tried,” Badu simply wrote. Banks responded, suggested Badu was jealous, tweeting, “When artists grow old and begin to recognize their own mortality they throw shade at younger spirits.”

The following year, Banks responded to a comment on Twitter suggesting she and Badu should become best friends, calling them the “misunderstood queens” — as they’re often finding themselves in controversy because of their statements. She said this is exactly why they don’t get along.

Badu responded later, praising Banks for her advocacy and apologized for what she said. From there, the love fest was full force, with Banks accepting the apology and then explaining her own personal relationship with Badu’s music and why she was so affected by the singer’s statement.

A rare happy ending on Twitter.

Year: 2016

Following Banks’ crude comments to Zayn, Disney star Skai Jackson (then only 14 years old) tweeted “Azealia Banks needs to simmer down a little.”

And in case you were questioning whether anybody was off limits to Banks, the answer proved to be no when she responded to Jackson by tweeting, “and you need to grow some hips and start ur menses. stay in a child’s place.” Jackson clapped back with, “When a no hip having 14 year old has more class than you. Worry about your career. Get one.”

Year: 2016

Tons of tension and subtweets pepper the troubled connection between Azealia and Azalea. They began beefing when Banks took issue with Azalea being the lone female rapper on the 2012 XXL Freshman cover. But none of it compared to the time Banks responded to an interview in which Iggy Azalea revealed that the criticism she had received since breaking into music made her contemplate self harm. Banks commented on one of Azalea’s Instagram posts encouraging her to commit suicide.

Despite that distasteful and offensive comment, Azalea worked to make up with Banks. She took to Snapchat and posted a long heartfelt message directed at the rapper that said, in part, “I just want to say FYI, re: A. Banks. Call me crazy but girl, I don’t hate you. I don’t know you to hate you. I don’t agree with many of your opinions but honestly, at times I empathize with you as a creative Gemini woman. I wish you had spoken to me before deciding I was out to get you when we first came on the scene, but that’s also typical Gemini reaction sh– (I get it). As a 27 year old adult woman just know: I wish you well from one human to another and joke collaboration or not as adults we should move past trivial beef with strangers.”

After that, the two seemingly mended their animosity as Azalea announced a collaboration with Banks that unfortunately never happened.

Year: 2017

In early 2017, Banks went on Instagram to voice her opinion about President Trump’s executive order to ban citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. During her rant, Banks set her sights on Rihanna, calling into question the singer’s immigration status and criticizing her tweets slamming Trump over the executive order.

“As far as Rihanna (who isn’t a citizen, and can’t vote) and all the rest of the celebrities who are using their influence to stir the public, you lot really REALLY need to shut up and sit down,” Banks wrote.

Rihanna subtly replied to Banks’ attack with a kissy face selfie on Instagram. “The face you make when you a immigrant,” she wrote in the caption. The singer also referenced Banks’ alleged sacrificing of live chickens using the hashtags #stayawayfromthechickens, #iheartnuggets and #saveourhens.

Year: 2017

In December 2017, Banks and Remy Ma went back and forth on Instagram, with Banks calling the rapper “a confused Nicki Minaj Stan at best these days.” “You do not count in the real female rap conversation anymore,” she continued, an out-of-nowhere diss that Remy Ma was (understandably) furious about. The spat escalated on social media, with Remy posting screenshots of texts Banks sent her detailing a depressive spiral and financial woes.

Year: 2018

This crazy feud began when Lana Del Rey went after Kanye for posting a photo to his Instagram account of himself wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. Lana responded by commenting, “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 alright to support someone who believes it’s OK to grab a woman by the p**** 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.”

Someone on Twitter screenshotted the IG post and Lana’s comments and asked Banks, “girl what do you think about this?” Banks was quick to reply, attacking Lana Del Rey for not being “consistent with her outrage” due to her collaboration with A$AP Rocky, who was accused of slapping a female fan in 2013. 

Banks then went on a long Twitter rant directed at Lana that touched on racism, prompting Lana to challenge the rapper by tweeting “u know the addy. Pull up anytime. Say it to my face. But if I were you—I wouldn’t.” The Twitter fight then escalated into attacks about Lana’s personal appearance and ultimately ended up in Banks threatening to sue. 

Year: 2018

This messy feud began when Banks called Cardi a “poor man’s Nicki Minaj” and accused the rapper of using a ghostwriter for her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Bodak Yellow.” Cardi responded by posting a video of Banks dancing to the track in a club.

The beef reignited on May 11 when Banks told The Breakfast Club that Cardi is an “illiterate, untalented rat” and called her a “caricature of a black woman.” Cardi responded to the offensive comments on Instagram, then deleted her entire IG account shortly thereafter.

Year: 2016, 2022, & 2024

Banks clearly has an issue with Beyoncé. Following the release of Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade in April 2016, Banks sounded off with the unpopular opinion that she didn’t like it. More than just saying that, though, Banks went on a rant tweeting, “She’s purposefully strayed away from political discourse her entire career to make sure she didn’t alienate white ppl. And now that black women’s suffering is a national conversation, she wants to hop on it and make our suffering ‘trendy’…she needs to stay under Jay-Z’s foot where she belongs, and stay out of the creative woman’s way.”

Then, four years later she sent a few stray shots Bey’s way after posting on Instagram about Kim Kardashian’s vegan diet.

“You have to give Kim her props for making to 40 still looking better than all of her contemporaries and about 88% of young women. I never in a million years thought Kim K would look healthier, more alert, more sober and overall happier and in control of her shit than Beyoncé,” she wrote. “Hate comparing but Bey really dropped the ball on aspirational pieces. She looks sooooo obviously sad with Jay-Z. And watching that energy drain her year after year just turns me off from how powerful she seemed to me as a kid.”

And, most recently, Banks once again decided to publicly criticize Beyonce by taking aim at the cover and title of her upcoming album, Cowboy Carter. “Wow we didn’t even try to put even a little effort into a more artistic title?” she wrote on Instagram. “How u switch from baobab trees and black parade to this literal pick me stuff.” She went on to accuse her of being in “white woman cosplay” and “reinforcing the false rhetoric that country music is a post civil war white art form. And subsequently reinforcing the idea that there is no racism, segregation, slavery, violence, theft, massacres, plagues, manifest destiny craziness that form the bedrock of epithets like ‘proud to be an American,’ or ‘god bless the usa.’”