Why the Beef between Azealia Banks and Lana Del Rey Matters
I don't need to dance around the topic. Lana Del Rey got into a duel that had the internet dying. This feud happened more than two weeks ago but I am still covering it because the tea never ceases to cool off. Make no mistake, I do not revel in female artists tearing each other down. For that reason I am not dwelling on the harsh insults that the two hurled at one another. But from their intense battle emerged very iconic lines such as Lana's "I won't not f*** you the f*** up. Period." You can read the full story here for more context.
Lana Del Rey had no way of knowing this would happen all because of an Instagram comment. Everything started when she took down Kanye West like a college student on evaluation day. My stance on the reckless opinions that have flown out of Kanye's mouth/fingers will not be shared in this article. My apologies, but if you want to dive into his recent statements about the 13th amendment, you're going to have to do your own research. What you need to know for this timeline of events is what prompted Lana to speak out:
When Lana wrote "Trump becoming our president was a loss for the country but your support of him is a loss for the culture," I wept for a second.
Seeing the internet agree with Lana is what led Azealia to go onto a Twitter rampage. The rest is history.
It wouldn't be fair to look at this conflict without thinking about the psychological factors at play. Lana Del Rey has talked about body image and drug abuse before, but neither of those issues seem to inform the words she imparted. It helps to mention that at one point she suggested that Azealia seek mental help, but that was more of a clapback than a toxic statement. Primarily, Azealia Banks has insecurity intertwined with her personality. She struggles with loving her skin, loving her ethnic hair, and to an extent loving her natural figure. It is no surprise that these three aspects are the basis of her problematic insults. She isn't content with the cards she has been dealt so she takes it upon herself to spill everyone else's deck.
As of now, Miss Azealia has picked a fight with
When I said the tea is still hot, I mean the tea is still hot. Azealia is implying that she is consistently fighting for issues faced by the Black community, when in reality she does more harm than good. Someone who has made blatant comments against gay, Hispanic, and plus-sized black people is not pro-black by pure definition. Azealia reminds me of Hannah Montana the way she wears her fabricated pro-blackness on her head for a short moment before tossing it away.
Let's be clear on something else as well: Azealia collaborating with Kanye is in no way pro-black except for the fact that she is putting a little bit of money in a black man's pocket. Besides that tidbit, she has a ton of nerve for bringing up Lana's collaboration with A$AP Rocky—a man who allegedly slapped a female fan—but leaving out the fact that she tirelessly supports Kanye West—a man who endorses our women's-genital-grabbing president.
The main idea that we can gather from these recent events is that the Black experience is not the same for everyone. We are witnessing now how the lack of cognizance toward the many black experiences in the United States is what is fueling these heated conflicts. Lana Del Rey sees black women as fundamental pieces to women's collective rights, whereas Azealia Banks thinks everyone is against her because she's a black woman. And it's practically impossible to understand what Kanye West thinks about the black experience. What I understand is that those diverse perspectives should be appreciated and utilized to unite us rather than to divide us.
Once we as a people come to terms with the diversity of experiences within one racial group, we can be authentic in the ways we disrupt oppression.
On that note, don't be progressive just because it's mainstream in today's culture. Be progressive because you personally want to make the world more equitable. Moreover, if you practice liberalism without passion then you are doing a disservice to yourself and others. Passion is what distinguishes an ally from a savior-ist. It's impossible to identify Lana's intention behind her words because she has status and identifies within the communities for which she is advocating. But I gathered from the gentle call-in she provided in Kanye's comment thread that she is coming from a place of genuine pain. We know that there is some passion stirring within her that prompted her to take that leap. And we know that what she did in this situation was not easy because today's celebrities tend to withhold their opinions to protect their career. Every time a famous artist shares a provocative opinion on social media they risk alienating a portion of their fans who disagree with them. While I do think Lana could and should find more ways to show consistency in her feminism, I respect the way she handled this situation.
If we can't understand one another, there is little hope for a better America. So make the effort to understand where people are coming from before you blow a situation out of proportion. Period.
Lana Del Rey had no way of knowing this would happen all because of an Instagram comment. Everything started when she took down Kanye West like a college student on evaluation day. My stance on the reckless opinions that have flown out of Kanye's mouth/fingers will not be shared in this article. My apologies, but if you want to dive into his recent statements about the 13th amendment, you're going to have to do your own research. What you need to know for this timeline of events is what prompted Lana to speak out:
When Lana wrote "Trump becoming our president was a loss for the country but your support of him is a loss for the culture," I wept for a second.
Seeing the internet agree with Lana is what led Azealia to go onto a Twitter rampage. The rest is history.
It wouldn't be fair to look at this conflict without thinking about the psychological factors at play. Lana Del Rey has talked about body image and drug abuse before, but neither of those issues seem to inform the words she imparted. It helps to mention that at one point she suggested that Azealia seek mental help, but that was more of a clapback than a toxic statement. Primarily, Azealia Banks has insecurity intertwined with her personality. She struggles with loving her skin, loving her ethnic hair, and to an extent loving her natural figure. It is no surprise that these three aspects are the basis of her problematic insults. She isn't content with the cards she has been dealt so she takes it upon herself to spill everyone else's deck.
As of now, Miss Azealia has picked a fight with
Skai JacksonThank you, Wendy Williams and her team, for saving me from doing the extensive research.
Iggy Azalea
Remy Ma
Cardi B
Erykah Badu
Nick Cannon
Lilly Allen
Action Bronson
Beyoncé
Russell Crowe
SZA
RZA
Zayn
Sarah Palin
Kendrick Lamar
Lupe Fiasco
Eminem
T.I.
Tiny
A$AP Rocky
Elon Musk
Rita Ora
Lady Gaga
Pharrell
Dolce
Gabbana
Lil Kim
RuPaul
Nicki Minaj
Jim Jones
Funkmaster Flex
Perez Hilton
The entire cast of Wild N Out
...and some security guard
When I said the tea is still hot, I mean the tea is still hot. Azealia is implying that she is consistently fighting for issues faced by the Black community, when in reality she does more harm than good. Someone who has made blatant comments against gay, Hispanic, and plus-sized black people is not pro-black by pure definition. Azealia reminds me of Hannah Montana the way she wears her fabricated pro-blackness on her head for a short moment before tossing it away.
Let's be clear on something else as well: Azealia collaborating with Kanye is in no way pro-black except for the fact that she is putting a little bit of money in a black man's pocket. Besides that tidbit, she has a ton of nerve for bringing up Lana's collaboration with A$AP Rocky—a man who allegedly slapped a female fan—but leaving out the fact that she tirelessly supports Kanye West—a man who endorses our women's-genital-grabbing president.
The main idea that we can gather from these recent events is that the Black experience is not the same for everyone. We are witnessing now how the lack of cognizance toward the many black experiences in the United States is what is fueling these heated conflicts. Lana Del Rey sees black women as fundamental pieces to women's collective rights, whereas Azealia Banks thinks everyone is against her because she's a black woman. And it's practically impossible to understand what Kanye West thinks about the black experience. What I understand is that those diverse perspectives should be appreciated and utilized to unite us rather than to divide us.
Once we as a people come to terms with the diversity of experiences within one racial group, we can be authentic in the ways we disrupt oppression.
On that note, don't be progressive just because it's mainstream in today's culture. Be progressive because you personally want to make the world more equitable. Moreover, if you practice liberalism without passion then you are doing a disservice to yourself and others. Passion is what distinguishes an ally from a savior-ist. It's impossible to identify Lana's intention behind her words because she has status and identifies within the communities for which she is advocating. But I gathered from the gentle call-in she provided in Kanye's comment thread that she is coming from a place of genuine pain. We know that there is some passion stirring within her that prompted her to take that leap. And we know that what she did in this situation was not easy because today's celebrities tend to withhold their opinions to protect their career. Every time a famous artist shares a provocative opinion on social media they risk alienating a portion of their fans who disagree with them. While I do think Lana could and should find more ways to show consistency in her feminism, I respect the way she handled this situation.
If we can't understand one another, there is little hope for a better America. So make the effort to understand where people are coming from before you blow a situation out of proportion. Period.
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