Photo: WENN
Iggy Azalea has revisited her feud with Azealia Banks over cultural appropriation, saying, "I just wish I had acknowledged the issue head-on, because it made people think I don't care."
At the end of 2014, Banks broke down while discussing the prominent appropriation of black culture in America. “That Macklemore album wasn’t better than Drake’s record,” she told HOT97. “That Iggy Azalea shit is not better than any black girl that’s rappin’ today. The Grammys are supposed to be accolades of artist excellence. Iggy Azalea is not excellent.”
She continued: “All it says to white kids is like ‘oh yeah, you’re great, you’re amazing, you can do whatever you put your mind to,’ And it says to black kids, 'you don’t have shit, you don’t own shit, not even the shit you created for yourself.' And, it makes me upset.”
Azalea subsequently responded to Banks' remarks, writing on Twitter: "Special msg for Banks: There are many black artists succeeding in all genres. The reason you haven't is because of your piss poor attitude. Your inability to be responsible for your own mistakes, bullying others, the inability to be humble or have self control. It's YOU! You created your own unfortunate situation by being a bigot and don't have the mental capacity to realize yet. Probably never will."
In a new interview with Elle Canada, Azalea has now given a more nuanced explanation of her feelings on the topic. "If I could, I would Men in Black memory-erase 2015, I totally would," she said. "I think the Azealia Banks thing is what really started it all. We don’t like each other on a personal level, and that has gone on for many years - before the Black Lives Matter incident happened.
"So when I dismissed her, people started to think that I dismissed the whole movement, but I wasn’t trying to dismiss Black Lives Matter - I was trying to dismiss her because it's our personal shit. I don't think the subject matter of her tweet was invalid; I just think it was emotionally charged and driven by something else, and the whole thing got so misconstrued."
She added, "I just wish I had acknowledged the issue head-on because it made people think I don’t care about what’s going on socially and what’s happening in America, and I do care. Even though I still hate Azealia Banks, I wish I had said it in a way that didn't make people think I was oblivious to the movement. And I wish I hadn't gotten into a fight with Papa John's!"
Ready Iggy Azalea's full interview with Elle Canada here.
