Rappers Azalea, Banks put aside bitter feud
Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks — two leading women in hip-hop who were embroiled in a bitter, racially tinged row — have patched up with plans in the works for a collaboration.
Azalea unveiled over social media that Banks will appear on a track of Digital Distortion, the 27-year-old Australian’s upcoming second album, and said she wanted to move on from the feud.
“I don’t expect you guys to understand why I would collaborate with someone who has publicly said they hope I die,” Azalea wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, saying she wanted to “turn YEARS worth of negativity into a positive interaction”.
“Also I think females in rap need to really be unified to prosper. We need more collaborations to happen,” she tweeted.
Banks was a vociferous critic when the 27-year-old Azalea found overwhelming commercial success with her debut album, The New Classic, in 2014.
Azalea caused a stir by rapping in the dialect of an African American from the southern United States, despite being white and speaking in an Australian accent off-stage.
Banks, who is African American, accused Azalea — whom she mocked as “Igloo Australia” — of profiting through racial appropriation in a series of Twitter posts that became increasingly heated. Responding to Azalea’s announcement, Banks said on Instagram that the collaboration was not yet confirmed but that she would be “thrilled” to work with her.
“Yes, she and I had our differences in the past, but we were so young and that was so long ago,” wrote the 26-year-old New Yorker, who won critical acclaim for her track 212, a danceable reflection on racial and sexual politics.
“She and I are both on a whole other level right now, and I have nothing but respect for her as a woman, an artist and a businesswoman,” she wrote.
Both Azalea and Banks have seen hiccups in their career since their feud. Azalea canceled a tour, saying she wanted to reconsider her sound.
Banks was suspended by Twitter after racist attacks on ex-One Direction heartthrob Zayn Malik and has faced legal problems, recently admitting in court that she bit a bouncer in the breast after she did not recognize the rapper at a New York club.