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.
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
