Rapper Azealia Banks lashed out at “racist conservative white people” and “fat white Americans” in a wide-ranging, race-heavy interview for her cover of Playboy magazine this month.
“Yes! I hate everything about this country,” Banks replied when Playboy asked if she wanted to leave the United States. “Like, I hate fat white Americans. All the people who are crunched into the middle of America, the real fat and meat of America, are these racist conservative white people who live on their farms.”
Banks maintained that if people read her Twitter account and do not like her, “it’s always about race.”
“Lorde can run her mouth and talk sh*t about all these other b**ches, but y’all aren’t saying she’s angry,” she told Playboy. “If I have something to say, I get pushed into the corner.”
Banks elaborated: “Because y’all motherf***ers still owe me reparations! [laughs]. That’s why it’s still about race. Really, the generational effects of Jim Crow and poverty linger on. As long as I have my money, I’m getting the f*** out of here and I’m gonna leave y’all to your own devices.”
The 23-year-old New York rapper, whose debut album Broke With Expensive Taste landed at No. 30 on the Billboard 200 chart last year, next took aim at her “little white fans.”
“I get annoyed with the fact that I’m even asked to explain myself. Why do I have to explain this to y’all?” Banks asked. “My little white fans will be like, ‘Why do you want reparations for work you didn’t do?’ Well, you got handed down your grandfather’s estate and and you got to keep your grandmother’s diamonds and pearls and sh*t.”
According to the Daily Mail, Banks had a rough childhood. Her father reportedly died when she was two years old and she left home at 14 to live with an older sister. She attended the prestigious LaGuardia High School with hopes of becoming an actress, but eventually dropped out of high school and focused on her singing career instead. But that did not stop her from bashing school textbooks:
“In my adulthood I’m having to destroy all these things society really wants you to think,” Banks explained. “The history textbooks in the U.S. are the worst if you’re not white. ‘The white man gave you the vote. He Christianized you and taught you how to speak English. If it weren’t for him, you’d still be living in a hut.’ I could write a book about why black people shouldn’t be Christians. Young black kids should have their own special curriculum that doesn’t start from the boat ride over from Africa. All you know as a black kid is we came over here on a boat, we didn’t have anything, and we still don’t have anything. But what was happening in Africa? What culture were we pulled away from? That information is vital to the survival of a young black soul.”
Read the rest of Banks’ Playboy interview here. The April Sex and Music issue will be available on newsstands on March 20.
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