A Brief History Of Azealia Banks's Beefs

It would take the word count of a doctoral thesis to trace and catalog all of the insults Azealia Banks has hurled at people over the years. Definitely cutting, sometimes clever, and relentlessly unapologetic, her comments have often left fans truly stunned. If words are her weapon, social media is her battlefield, where her public feuds have been well-documented for all to see. 

In fact, the list is so long that it had to be formally and comprehensively alphabetized by onlookers, as seen on X, formerly Twitter. The rapper has become infamous for using her online platforms to leave no stone unturned, be it musicians, actors, politicians, airlines, and even countries. With no one safe, she has become one of pop's most divisive figures, sometimes to her own detriment. If, as she professed in "212," she "can be the answer," then the question must be: Is Banks showbiz's most problematic favorite? 

Lana Del Rey and A$AP Rocky are longtime friends and collaborators: Cue the singer's "National Anthem" video and the rapper's unreleased single "Ridin." But they've also both found themselves on the wrong side of Azealia Banks. When Kanye West (as Ye was still known back then) endorsed the MAGA movement on Instagram, Del Rey replied: "Trump becoming our president was a loss for the country but your support of him is a loss for the culture" (via BBC). 

Banks was quick to respond and called her out. "Wow okay Lana, this would be cute if you were consistent with your outrage and refused to collab with ASAP [R]ocky who has physically assaulted women too" (via Newsweek). The "Video Games" songstress dropped her usual ethereal act to unleash her violent side toward Banks: "I won't not f*** you the f*** up. Period."

This wasn't the first time Banks had taken grievances with A$AP Rocky. Back in 2013, Rihanna's future baby-daddy gave an interview with The Coveteur warning about makeup trends for certain women, saying: "What do dark skin girls have that you know fair skinned girls cant do... Purple lipstick? Naw, that looks stupid on all girls!" (via Huffington Post). For Banks, this was a shade too fair, so she said: "Lol @ asap rockys lipstick advice. Some people should just come out of the closet" (via X).

There is no feud too big for Azealia Banks, and that includes taking on entire nationalities. After a scheduled flight to Dublin with airline Aer Lingus went awry, Banks aired her grievances on Instagram, claiming she was confronted by the flight attendants while searching her bag for her passport. She said: "They crowded round me like I'm some sort of animal saying, 'we're going to have a problem.' I get off the plane. I've worked too hard in my life to be cornered by some ugly Irish b****. They are ugly Irish women here" (via The Sun).

Aer Lingus responded with a statement about their no-tolerance policy when it comes to disruptive passengers, but the damage to Ireland was done. Banks exacerbated her remarks when she took to her now-deleted Instagram account, adding: "I've had enough of y'all oompa loompa looking spray tanned crazy looking b****** tonight. The girls have scurvy, they're like vitamin deficient, they need some calcium tablets." Her commentary continued with a slew of insults, calling Irish people "a bunch of prideful inbred leprechauns," and advising them, "Don't you have a famine to go die in ?" (via BBC).

Azealia Banks' racist rant towards One Direction's Zayn Malik sank to new lows, stripping away any amusement fans may have once found in her online jabs. Amongst vicious slurs, she lambasted the singer, tweeting: "All those white boys in 1D disrespected you and made you their PET. You were only a part of 1D to draw brown attention. You are and ALWAYS will be a TOKEN to the UK." Understandably, people were angry; she was banned from the social media platform and lost her headline slot at a London festival that year. 

What followed was a rare U-turn from Banks. She published an open apology which read: "There are no words that can fully express how sorry I am...At times, I am so confused by my own struggle, and the struggle of my race, that I forget to consider the hardships other minorities continue to endure," before adding: "I apologize not only to you, Zayn, but to all those I hurt and offended" (via BBC).

Beyond her general jabs at people, Banks has often expressed views that are offensive to others. She has been accused of both homophobia and transphobia, mainly for her liberal use of derogatory names. She once wrote, "LGBT community are like gay white KKK's" (via Independent). But when asked how she feels to be constantly scrutinized, she seemed unmoved: "I don't care. Your problems with me are not my problems" (via TikTok).

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Not even children escape Azealia Banks' wrath. In the aftermath of the Zayn Malik drama, Disney Channel star Skai Jackson, who was just 14 at the time, tweeted: "Azealia Banks needs to simmer down a little." In response — and before her issued apology to the One Directioner — Banks called Jackson a "black little b***" and instructed her to "grow some hips and start your menses"(via Independent). 

Jackson later gave an interview to Teen Vogue, saying: "There should be consequences that happen when you say things about people, especially racist things. I'm honestly going to say I've heard some of her music; she is a talented person, but all that talent is being covered up with all this negativity that she's causing on her own."

Elsewhere, British singer Lily Allen's unsuspecting young daughters were caught in the crossfire. As NME reported in 2013, while the singer and rapper were in a Twitter spat about each other's success, Banks jeered: "LOL ill be a one hit wonder but you have ugly children and a coke habit." Over 10 years later, Banks was still unrelenting, taking to Twitter again in 2024 to tell Allen her kids look like "vaginal discharge" (via X).

One of Azealia Banks' weirdest controversies involved none other than Elon Musk and his then-girlfriend Grimes. The musicians had discussed collaboration, and in 2018, Grimes invited Banks to Musk's house (via Fader). Three days before Banks flew out to meet her, however, Musk tweeted: "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured." Lo and behold, Tesla stock was not valued at $420, nor was funding secured — he just wanted to make a juvenile weed joke. Nobody was laughing, least of all the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Grimes redirected her attention to comforting her man-baby beau.

Cue Banks, who alerted fans in a slew of Instagram stories: "Literally been sitting in Elon Musks house alone for days waiting for @grimes to show up and start these sessions," before adding: "Staying at Elon musks house has been like a real like episode of "Get Out ... I waited around all weekend while grimes coddled her boyfriend for being too stupid to know not to go on twitter while on acid" (via Reddit). 

She later set the scene for Business Insider, saying "I saw him in the kitchen tucking his tail in between his legs scrounging for investors to cover his ass after that tweet. He was stressed and red in the face." Importantly, she clarified "He's not cute at all in person," and declared, "I could run Tesla better than he does." With her shrewd eye, there's no doubt she could.