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Azealia Banks, Lizzo

Source: Joe Giddens – PA Images/Arik McArthur / Getty

Rapper Azealia Banks made rapper-singer Lizzo the target of her most recent vicious social media attack.

In the now deleted post, Banks referred to Lizzo as a “millennial mammy” and that she uses her platform to pander to white audiences.

“Lmao the fact that the public and the media has been keeping this fat girl joke going for so long is honestly peak boredom,” said Banks, holder of zero Hot 100 top 10 singles. “The song is not good, nor is the dumpy fat girl spectacle live set she does. Saddest bit is that the girl is legit talented and truly only being allowed to shine so long as she allows herself to be this millennial mammy of sorts.”

While Banks did acknowledge Lizzo’s undeniable talents, the remarks were mean-spirited and off the cuff.

“She looks like she is making a fool of her black self for a white American public,” Banks continued in reference to Lizzo.

Banks also named and berated rappers Cardi B and Lil Nas X as part of her tirade of the white mainstream media.

“Like illiterate Cardi then fat Lizzo. They are really choosing the worst of the black womens crop to advertise America with,” she wrote. “I guess they saw us moving too fast with it because if you realize, after Beyoncé became political in ways they didn’t like the elite stopped giving her that top top spot and started cycling out these lessers like Cardi and Lizzo (even Lil Nas X trash ass buckbreak mountain anthem) giving them Beyoncé level accolades while both being no where near the level of black female excellence she is.”

Why Banks decided to press Lizzo remains unknown but we’ve seen similar behavior from Azealia over the years as she’s feuded with several different entertainers. At a time when Lizzo is celebrating her #1 status on the Billboard charts after a two-year push of her hit song “Truth Hurts,” Banks’ comments couldn’t be any further from the truth.

Some commentators expressed that while America does have a fascination with problematic caricatures of Black women, using Lizzo as the example was not the way, the truth or the light. But Banks’ history has shown that she may have deep-seated insecurities about the lack of visibility and acceptance for her own art.

Not only that, we’ve seen Banks endorse skin bleaching creams and also tout anti-Black, xenophobic and homophobic ideals in the past, signaling a lack of self-awareness and self-love, to be frank. Instead it would have been refreshing to see Banks support Lizzo, a woman who stands outside the acceptable Eurocentric body ideals which we all consciously and unconsciously subscribe to.

If Banks claims to be a change maker she should realize that many other young Black girls are looking at Lizzo and are forming progressive ideals about beauty standards, in turn breaking the internalized self-hatred Black girls, especially fat Black girls, harbor because of what they see in the media.

For the most part it looks like Lizzo will take the high road and not address Banks’ rant against her. But Banks’ commentary for sure proved that there is a deeper internalized brokenness that needs to be addressed in order to be taken seriously as an artist and cultural commentator. There’s never a good place or time to see a Black woman tear another Black woman down, especially in her winning season.

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