Azealia Banks is one of hip hop’s lost talents. Most known for her 2011 smash-hit ‘212’, the rapper, who can sing and act as well, was one of the only rappers in the world who could rap over house music without sounding unauthentic or disingenuous. Banks was a true fan of house, knew house music and wasn’t just using it for fame.
However, one thing that the young 20-year-old Banks didn’t understand when she found fame is that when you find fame, you can’t unleash that inner-city fire on people because, unlike before, you now have millions of people watching you.
Many artists make this mistake and don’t reach as far as they should because they remain under the impression that they can still talk and act the way they did before they were famous, which is a complete falsehood.
However, although at first, it seemed punk and rebellious in a cool sort of way, when the so-called radical statements started to include racial slurs, homophobic language and body shaming, the line was crossed. With no remorse shown, people instantly disengaged from Banks, her brand and her music.
Sadly, things have not changed, and her most recent victim is none other than Rennaissance singer and revered artist Beyoncé. Banks slammed Bey last year for what she considered to be an opportunistic and inauthentic pivot towards house music, which she has been making herself for years and told the Houston singer that the album wasn’t up to scratch.
Now, following the release of Knowles’ country project, Cowboy Carter, Banks has resurfaced to give a scathing review of the body of work. Taking to Instagram, Banks called the theme Western theme “redundant” and insisted that the country-inspired lyrics sound “really forced.”
Reviewing Knowles’ album and her Jolene cover, Banks exclaimed, “Album is too long…. Plus, who is this imaginary adversary sis thinks still wants to hump on Jay in 2024?” Speaking about Knowles’ notion that women want Jay-Z, Banks rudely insisted, “She’s gotta find new content. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY thinks he’s even remotely attractive….. Lol.”
The Washington Heights lyricist gave Beyoncé praise for the project’s audio engineering but asserted that Miley Cyrus’ appearance on the album was “on brand” but inauthentic, writing, “We know those two are not kicking it on the regular.”
Considering Knowles’ released her debut album over twenty years ago and has been a commercially successful artist since the late 1990s, Banks disclosed that the number of rebrands the vocalist has gone through since her 2013 project Beyoncé and falling quality of her material is indicative of her exhaustion. As such, she told the ‘Partition’ star, “If you want to retire…just fucking retire.” She concluded, You supposed to be getting better and you’re just like, I don’t know, you’re submitting to some other shit. I fell asleep on the shit last night.”
You can hear Azealia Banks speaking about Cowboy Carter below.