NEWS
Azealia Banks performs on January 25, 2019 in London, England.
Matthew Baker/Getty ImagesAzealia Banks took aim at Kanye West on Monday (Nov. 22), sharing her uncensored thoughts on the rapper in a new interview.
Chatting with Rolling Stone, the topic of ‘Ye came up, as the “212” MC discussed how she came this close to naming her recent track “F— Him All Night” after her nemesis. The reason? “Because Kanye trolled me a lot,” she said. (Instead, the single’s cover art points all 10 fingers at West thanks to some creative nail art.)
“Listen to my music. Listen to the last five years of Kanye West’s music. I’m superior,” Banks continued. “I don’t have to talk about that which is beneath me. He’s been, I guess, selling sneakers and doing outrageous shit, everything but the music. When Kanye puts some music out that is important, then I guess we can have that conversation. But right now, he’s kind of just like a cultural figure.”
The rapper didn’t hold back in her opinions on TikTok either, explaining that she doesn’t use the social platform because she’s “not a f—ing con artist.”
“It’s the most devalued art form in all the art forms,” Banks said of music in the industry’s current state. “Because with streaming and everything, people are getting desperate, and they’re doing everything else but making good music. Doing videos and all this other stuff, but it’s like, the music sucks. … Once everyone started doing three hours of makeup to do a 15-second TikTok, I kind of tuned out.”
Another thing the star doesn’t tune into? Cancel culture. She says the very idea of it “doesn’t really exist. Only God can cancel something. Just because you don’t like it, doesn’t mean that it’s canceled, it just means you don’t f—ing like it, and that’s OK.”
Read Banks’ full interview with Rolling Stone here.
The world leader, who has repeatedly faced criticism for featuring songs from artists who do not want their music connected to his political views, shared a viral clip of We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) that focused on the lyric: “Me and my truth we sit in silence.”
The footage shows Trump at a rally while the statement “Men can’t have babies and should never compete in women’s sports” appears on screen.
The Team Trump TikTok account posted the video with the caption: “This shouldn’t be controversial! #trump #arianagrande #maga.”
Ariana responded in a comment that was later removed, saying: “Never use my music again. Also, your truth is false.”
Trump has a well known record of opposing transgender rights, and the US Supreme Court recently ruled that states can prohibit transgender women from taking part in women’s sports. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the justices determined that such laws do not breach Title IX or the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
The decision in June came after several other actions by the Trump administration involving transgender policies. Earlier in May, the Supreme Court also permitted the administration to continue with its “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” order, which would prevent transgender individuals from serving in the US military.
Ariana’s statement arrived soon after Taylor Swift also took steps to stop Trump from using her music on TikTok. Trump had featured a number of her songs in his social media posts, including a video of him and his wife Lady Melania Trump watching fireworks accompanied by August.
The song was later taken off the post and replaced by a notice that read: “This sound isn’t available.”
Trump appeared to deliberately select Taylor’s track, adding the message: “I’m sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song!”
He also responded to the Team Trump video with: “Mood because it’s August and Donald Trump is your president.”
Other Taylor Swift songs that were removed from Trump’s TikTok content included The Fate of Ophelia and Father Figure.
Trump previously made headlines when he wrote “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on Truth Social after the singer publicly announced that she planned to support Kamala Harris in the previous presidential election.
