Inside Azealia Banks' Messiest Feuds

Azealia Banks is a talented young rapper who has actually made a name for herself more with her online feuds than for her musical abilities. 

While her music is unique and empowering for many, it unfortunately often gets overshadowed by her constant trolling. She picks many fights with celebrities much more popular than her, presumably for attention and for a reaction. Banks is very outspoken, constantly finding herself in hot water because of her need to insert her opinion, and her feuds are a great source of entertainment for the internet. Though she can go too far sometimes, there is something quite admirable about someone that says exactly what's on their mind at all times. Most of her altercations took place on her favorite medium, Twitter, and she has been banned several times for violating the platform's rules. 

These days, if she has something to say, she'll usually take to Instagram, but our favorite messy rapper has been unusually quiet these days. Luckily, the internet is forever and we are able to look back on every single time Banks started a fight. Let's take a look at Azealia Banks' messiest online feuds.

In October 2018, Azealia Banks and Lana Del Rey got into a heated Twitter fight, stemmed by comments Del Rey made about Kanye West. 

When West tweeted his support for presidential candidate Donald Trump, Del Rey tweeted, calling both West and Trump "narcissists," as she felt West's support for the controversial candidate came from their similar personalities. Banks tweeted her outrage at Del Rey's comments, accusing the singer of hypocrisy and selective allyship. "Wow okay Lana, this would be cute if you were consistent with your outrage and refused to collab with ASAP rocky who has physically assaulted women too," Banks tweeted. "To me this just looks like the typical White woman taking using [sic] a weakened target to 'pretend' to be an ally."

Del Rey responded quickly: "u know the addy. Pull up anytime. Say it to my face. But if I were you — I wouldn't," she threatened. "I won't not f*** you the f*** up. Period." She later continued on her own profile, not directly tagging Banks, but clearly speaking directly to her. "Banks," she wrote, "u coulda been the greatest female rapper alive but u blew it. don't take it out on the only person who had ur back." When Banks then accused the singer of having gotten plastic surgery, Del Rey shot back by offering to put Banks in touch with her surgeon and "a good psychiatrist." Yikes! The two went back and forth until Banks threatened to sue.

Azealia Banks and Cardi B have a history of fighting that boiled over in May 2018. Banks came for Cardi B in an interview with The Breakfast Club, attacking the rapper for the way she spoke and how she presented herself. While discussing the impact of Beyoncé's "Lemonade," Banks stated: "I'm just talking about this caricature of a Black woman that Black women themselves would never be able to get away with. Like, if my spelling and grammar was that bad, I'd be canceled."

Cardi B defended herself in an Instagram comment screen grabbed by The Shade Room. "I'm from the hood," she wrote in part. "I speak how I speak. I am how I am. I did not choose to be famous people choose me." Cardi then accused Banks of bleaching her skin before stating that she refuses to apologize for who she is. Banks replied in a series of tweets, ripping Cardi to shreds with every response. ​​

"You're illiterate, you're baby mama 4/5 to [a] man who has women crawling out of the woodworks with kids," Banks retorted in part, targeting Cardi's husband Offset, who has three children from previous relationships. "The fact that your overall statistic-ness is being merited as success is a clear indication that the suits backing you are using you as a weapon against black women's consciousness and culture," she continued. Cardi made a long Instagram statement fighting back before deleting her page altogether, quieting the feud.

In September 2021, Nicki Minaj caught tons of flack online for her apprehension about the COVID-19 vaccine. Minaj claimed that her cousin's friend became impotent after getting vaccinated, and many accused her of using fake news to justify her apprehension. Of course, Azealia Banks also felt it necessary to share her two cents. The two had previously engaged in an extended feud that ended in 2017 when Banks apologized, but Banks' comments (as well as others made in 2021) might've reignited the mess.

"For as many Black women that have died or had their legs amputated or body parts amputated because of black market butt injects, why do we not have Nicki Minaj questioning that?" Banks asked on Instagram, referencing Minaj's alleged plastic surgery. Banks, who is vaccinated, slammed Minaj for being irresponsible, calling her "stupid" and "selfish." "For someone who has lyrics like, 'Woke up, the price of coke up,' knowing that 90 percent of the cocaine that comes into the United States is laced with Fentanyl. Like, you wanna encourage your fans to snort Fentanyl as cocaine rather than get a vaccine," she continued, questioning Minaj's logic.

This wasn't the first time Banks accused Minaj of being a cocaine user. Earlier in 2021, Banks threw accusations at Minaj for sniffling on Instagram Live, but Minaj claimed her actions were the result of her being chilly.

Azealia Banks attacked former One Direction member Zayn Malik in a hateful Instagram tirade in May 2016. The singer used racist and homophobic language to accuse Malik of using imagery very similar to her own work in his video for "Like I Would." "Damn Zayn be mood boarding the f*** out of me," she wrote on Instagram, sharing side by side stills from his video and her images. "I'm not mad about this though," she continued. "Zayn is a cutie pie."

Malik responded, tweeting: "why you been saying nasty things about me? I wasn't talking about you lol." This seemed to ignite a fire within Banks, who proceeded to ambush Malik with insults. "U.S.A IS ABOUT TO TEACH YOU WHO NOT TO F*** WITH!!" she replied. "When your entire extended family has been obliterated by good ol' the U.S of A will you still be trying to act like a white boy pretending to be black? Do you understand that you are a sand n***** who emulates white boys' renditions of black male hood? Do you know how lost and culture less you are?" Malik kept his cool, not even directly tagging Banks in his replies. "No lies ... I see you reaching but I don't care," he tweeted, followed by, "My @'s too good for you."

Banks exploded again, calling Malik a series of homophobic and ethnic slurs in an attempt to shatter his confidence. Banks eventually apologized five months after the incident.

Azealia Banks' racially charged fight with Zayn Malik left the internet completely shocked. A then-14-year-old Skai Jackson was just as shocked as the rest of us, and expressed her feelings by tweeting that Banks "needs to simmer down a little." Banks responded by attacking Jackson's youth: "And you need to grow some hips and start ur menses. stay in a child's place," she hissed, and the two engaged in a Twitter war that would go on for several hours. The two fought about everything from status to Jackson's Disney career, with Banks saying that Jackson was "just another little black girl who's going to be kicked off the disney conveyer belt." Banks also berated Jackson for being nothing more than a "meme," as a photo of Jackson had recently become a viral reaction image.

Jackson surprisingly held her own during the fight, defending Malik, keeping it classy, and confidently clapping back at hateful "bully" Banks. "A meme with 2.3 million Instagram followers. My memes are more relevant than you," Jackson laughed. "Now that's sad. Now bye Twitter troll." Jackson didn't back down, no matter how much she was insulted. "This wasted conversation is helping your career! Bye hunny," she mocked. Banks continued to body shame the teen and even went so far as to say Jackson's mom was pimping her daughter out for Instagram and "sucking d**k" for her daughter's next Disney role. 

The altercation only ended when Twitter banned Banks from their platform.

Azealia Banks and Iggy Azalea have a decade-long history of publicly fighting. It began in 2011, when Banks tweeted: "Once wrote a song called 'Barbie S***,' but nicki minaj blew up like the week after so i took it down, lololz. i felt corny. Also wrote a song called P-*-$-$-Y before Iggy Azalea." Azalea responded by saying it's not about who did it first, but who did it better, and their feud was born. When Azalea's album "The New Classic" was announced, many suspected the title was directed at Banks.

Later, when Azalea made the cover of XXL Magazine, Banks couldn't hide her outrage. "Iggy Azalea on the XXL freshman list is all wrong," she tweeted in frustration. "How can you endorse a white woman who called herself a 'runaway slave master'? Sorry guys, I'm pro black girl. I'm not anti white girl, but I'm also not here for any1 outside of my culture trying to trivialize very serious aspects of it." Banks called out Azalea several more times after this, most notably when Azalea failed to show up for Black Lives Matter protests, despite her usage of Black culture in her brand.

Eventually, things escalated to Banks expressing support for Azalea's suicidal thoughts. Azalea admitted that she had contemplated taking her own life in an interview with J Cruz and Banks enthusiastically commented "YAAS slavemaster, drive that slave truck right off the canyon," in shocking encouragement.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

In December 2017, Azealia Banks and Remy Ma engaged in heated argument online that sparked a months-long feud. 

It all started when Remy appeared on the popular NYC radio show "Ebro In The Morning" in 2014. Remy reflected on the state of hip hop at the time of her release from prison, stating: "When I came home [from jail] it was nothing. It was tumbleweeds blowing through as far as female artists in rap is concerned." Three years later, Banks responded to Remy's quote in an extensive Instagram caption, bashing the rapper. "Remy — the hottest things you've released since you've been out of jail are Nicki [Minaj] love letters and she's still miles more important than you," Banks began, before later removing that part of the caption. Banks was referencing Remy's beef with Nicki Minaj, which was still actively brewing at the time of their own spat. "It's not 2000," Banks continued. "Battle rapping is dead."

In her lengthy rant, Banks urged Remy to "step [her] s*** up," insulting the rapper for being uncool, outdated, and out of touch with current rap trends. "DONT F***IN CHANGE YA CAPTION NOW!" Remy responded in her own post, posting text message receipts that showed Banks begging her for a collaboration. Things then only escalated and the two rappers continued to bash each other in long videos on social media. As of this writing, their fight seems to have settled — but who knows for how long.

Azealia Banks and Rihanna were never friends, despite collaborating on a track that never made Rihanna's 2016 album, "Anti." Their feud began when Rihanna responded to the news that then-President Donald Trump approved an executive order to ban immigrants from seven countries from entering the United States.

"Disgusted! The news is devastating!" she tweeted. "America is being ruined right before our eyes! What an immoral pig you have to be to implement such BS!!" Banks, who was a tentative Trump supporter, responded brutally in some now-deleted tweets, targeting both Rihanna and generally all opponents of the ban. "No. this all stupid and wrong. Is she even American???? Can she even vote?" Banks wrote in part. The rapper then doxxed Rihanna by sharing a photo of her phone number, and Rihanna responded by doing the same — exposing explicit texts accusing Banks of having a sex and drug addiction in the process. Fans were absolutely living for the drama.

The two went at it back and forth, with Rihanna mocking Banks' troll attempts. She laughed that Banks' internet fights were the equivalent of someone "screaming into an empty room." Banks responded with a selfie, writing: "Keep playing with me." Finally, Rihanna posted a picture of herself blowing a kiss to the camera in typical Rihanna fashion, captioning it: "what u came for." In 2019, Banks clearly hadn't gotten over their beef, as she continued to bash Rihanna, body shaming the singer and insulting her "bald ass f***ing edges."

In February 2015, a mini feud ignited between Erykah Badu and Azealia Banks when a fan asked Badu if she'd ever listened to Banks' music. Badu responded simply, quoting the tweet with "Tried," implying that she had given Banks' music a listen but that it ultimately wasn't for her. Banks took note of Badu's tweet, responding: "lol, what's the shade?" Banks didn't even wait for Badu to respond before launching into a Twitter rant, accusing the elder rapper of "jealousy."

"When artists grow old and begin to recognize their own mortality they throw shade at younger spirits," Banks tweeted in her rant, implying that Badu was hating because of some unsaid resentment. "Whether or not you like me ... You are WATCHING, and that's what's most important." Eventually, after a few hours of Banks' tweets, Badu defended herself with "Well s*** I did try. Maybe you're right.. I'm just to [sic] old to get it. You cool tho?" Banks responded confidently with "I'm cool, I was just trying to make sure you were cool....?"

The next year, the two apologized to each other after realizing how similar they were, as the two are constantly causing online controversy. Banks even admitted that she grew up on Badu's music, explaining why she initially reacted so emotionally.

Azealia Banks' feud with rapper T.I. began in 2012, when Banks threw shade at Iggy Azalea. Azalea was T.I.'s protégé at the time, so T.I. didn't take kindly to Banks' comments about Azalea's XXL Magazine cover. The two got into a heated public argument, though things eventually cooled down. 

The feud started up again in 2014, when T.I. was set to release his video for "No Mediocre" featuring Azalea. Banks tweeted: "U want no mediocre but ... have you seen your wife?" She also reportedly said T.I.'s wife had "meth face" and "can't read." T.I. furiously responded back in an incredibly colorful way and then physically threatened Banks, writing: "If u speak ill of my family again ... I WILL END YOU!!!!!!"

In 2021, shortly after T.I. and his wife, Tiny Harris, were accused of sexual abuse, Banks made claims that T.I. had verbally abused her in the past. In an Instagram Story, Banks wrote: "Y'all still never checked TI for saying he was gonna slit my throat and toss me down the stairs. Over questioning a white woman for calling herself a runaway slave master." Of course, Banks was referencing Azalea's "D.R.U.G.S." track that she had already called the rapper out for. Banks inserted Azalea into the accusation even further, elaborating: "Sad thing is T.I and Tiny probably had igloo drugged up and forcing her into threesomes too!" Banks and T.I. are still at odds after nearly 10 years of feuding.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Apparently, no one's off limits to trolling — not even rap legends like Lil' Kim. Two weeks before their public spat, Azealia Banks announced a possible collaboration with the iconic rapper to much excitement. Soon after, however, things shifted for the worse.

"It really sucks when someone you respect and admire is trying to act brand new when all u did was reach out and try to work," Banks tweeted, implying something happened behind the scenes. "I can't lie ... My little feelings are hurt. Women are so petty ... but whatever ... Your Loss ... Not mine." While she seemed to be genuinely hurt, in a series of tweets explaining their relationship, Banks claimed there was no beef. "Okay so true tea is that Lil Kim got mad that I wrote a verse for her on a record I wanted her on. So..... My question was and is still ... IS SHE DOING THE TRACK?" Banks questioned.

A representative from Lil' Kim's camp then stated that the fight was completely fabricated. Apparently, Banks and Lil' Kim had never even met. "My client and Azealia have NEVER spoke to one another or met AT ALL. Kim was actually very flattered by Azealia's public admiration for her, which is why it's so hard to understand how someone who claims to be a true Lil Kim fan could flip the script so easily on someone who was supposedly their idol." In 2017, Banks apologized for her previous comments.

In 2013, Azealia Banks was at it again, this time attacking Lily Allen and her then-husband for apparently no reason at all. The incident began when a fan of Banks forward a 2012 tweet from Allen, in which she joked: ​​"YOURE ALL JUST JEALOUS CAUSE IM SOOOOOOOO F***ING BEAUTIFUL AND HAVE SUCH A PRETTY FACE."

"Weak," Banks tweeted in response. "[Lily] can't talk though. Not when I met her coked up at yoyo ... And NOT with that ugly husband she has." Allen responded hesitantly, seemingly not wanting to start something up with Banks, but evidently got upset when Banks replied, "Your husband looks like a thumb."

"Not even gonna @ her but if she wants to talk about weak, I'm sure her record sales to date should suffice. One hit wonder," Allen lashed back. "And my husband? Don't go there b***h Or your totally unnecessary security detail may actually have something to worry about #wannabe ... Ps we all need thumbs." Banks continued to berate the singer, calling her children ugly and again accusing Allen of having a coke habit. At the same time of their argument, Banks was facing trouble with her label, publicly begging to be released from her contract. Allen retaliated by changing her Twitter picture to a screen grab of Banks' Twitter, seemingly reveling in Banks' label and album trouble. In 2020, Banks revealed that Allen had called her to apologize, but that the apology was racist and distasteful.

Azealia Banks ignited a heated feud with The Stone Roses and Rita Ora at Sydney's Randwick racecourse, where the artists were performing at the Future Music festival. Apparently, during Banks' set, crew members began the sound check for The Stone Roses, interrupting the rapper. Banks accused the disruption of being a set up by her former tour manager, to sabotage her for firing him. After the gig, Banks took to Twitter.

"Wow! I must really f***ing be a superstar," she began."You've got an established band trying to sabotage my lil rap b***h shine ... A bunch of old white men trying to bully a young black girl ... F*** those old saggy white n****s ... I wish them nothing but excrement and death." Later, Banks claimed Ian Brown tried to attack her backstage. "He charged at me," she tweeted. "We LEGIT almost got into a fist fight ... I would've won. It was a pretty classic moment though. Legendary if you ask me." Allegedly, The Stone Roses apologized, prompting Banks to delete her tweets.

Rita Ora, who was also performing, became Banks' new target after taking photos of the rapper's dancers backstage. Banks furiously dubbed Ora "Rihanna's understudy." Ora replied to Banks in a series of texts Banks exposed, writing in part, "u dont know me I've done nothin but try be nice to u ... ur dancers were talkin to me further more ill see ur ass at the motherf***in concert."

In January 2013, Azealia Banks engaged in what is seen as her worst beef ever with Angel Haze — which is saying a lot, considering how many people she's feuded with. 

"Seriously, if you were not born and raised in NY.... DON'T CLAIM NY. YOU ARE NOT A NEW YORKER." Haze, who is from Michigan, had recently recorded over a sample of Gil Scott-Heron called "New York" and felt the need to respond. "And you don't want this fade off Twitter. So knock it off. Before you get shanked through your iridescent bubble jacket." Banks seemed shocked by Haze's tweet, especially given that "New York" had been released over six months before.

"Did Angel Haze just threaten to cut me because of a very general tweet I sent about non-New Yorker claiming NY?" Banks tweeted. Haze then called Banks a "charcoal skinned b***h," though she later apologized when Banks called her out. The two still insulted each other back and forth, however, even hinting at a real-life flirtation, before Haze released "On The Edge." The cover art included a close-up of Banks' face and some private texts layered on top of it. The two released diss tracks until Perez Hilton got involved, taking Haze's side. Banks didn't take kindly to that, deeming Hilton "a messy f*****t." From then on, the feud took on a life of its own, birthing important discourse about homophobic language that even GLAAD and Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters participated in.