It’s no surprise that Azealia Banks’ mouth has gotten her in a ton of trouble with both the Internet and the music industry. Her problematic comments on skin bleaching, Donald Trump, and her attack on other celebrities are only a few of the incidents that have often placed her at the center of controversy. But in a recent interview with XXL in June 2017, the “Chi Chi” rapper suggested that the music industry’s double standard when it comes to gender played a huge role in her career’s downward spiral.
“I’m definitely shut out from where I was, 100 percent. People are very scared to be associated with me because of, you know, the controversy,” Banks candidly told XXL. Demonstrating her maturity however, the rapper admittedly took some of the responsibility for her actions. But she also placed some of the blame on the industry that doesn’t show the same empathy for her as it does her male counterparts.
“I guess the source of my disappointment comes from just watching lots of other men in hip-hop, just like male rappers, have their career setbacks and go through things,” she explained. “They’ll be like, ‘Kanye West is saying all that because he’s crazy’ or ‘Okay, yeah, R. Kelly raped a girl, but damn, he makes some good music.’ I don’t feel like I ever got that kind of empathy. I never got those kinds of privileges, I never got those kinds of allowances, especially coming in the rap game without any real rap friends.” She also compared XXXTentacion’s comments about dark-skinned women being roaches to the time she said she hated Black men.
At a time, Banks used to be bitter, which triggered her unruly behavior. But now, she’s unleashing her emotions in a different way. “It’s discouraging, but I’m not afraid to cry about it or afraid to admit that it hurts me now, rather than just going about things the wrong way and trying to fight fire with fire,” she said. Hopefully, she can channel her new sense of clarity into more music.