Azealia Banks And The Frustration Of The Industry

It's almost too easy nowadays to differentiate the artists with a message from the ones who say things just to promote themselves. Actually, it might not be so much. Scratch that, yes it is. Getting your feelings involved in any situation adds a biased factor to what you end up saying, whether your point is good or bad. Constructive criticism, straight hate and bashing, or even simple props given to someone are all justified at some point no matter how easy it is to see their reasoning. Living life in the industry can only be spoken convincingly by someone living the life themselves (obviously), but until you know about the life yourself, can you really give an opinion anyone truly cares about?  I felt an overload of thoughts surrounding this topic, and it starts with Azealia Banks' interview with Ebro in the Morning.

If you haven't seen it, Azealia Banks gave quite the entertaining interview to Ebro in the Morning on Hot 97. If you know Ebro and his interview style, he very easily has a way to warm up his guests then transition into the problems and the gossip people want to know about, and Azealia Banks had a lot to say about her past (and present) problems with Iggy Azalea. Banks goes on to say that she sees it as more of a problem that Iggy is getting more attention than her because of her race and how the industry works and sees blacks as "slaves" more than the fact that her and Iggy have had simple beef because of what Banks' fans see as Iggy stealing her name. Both sides of this have incredibly fascinating points that cannot be ignored.

The point of mentioning the biased views of people is this:  people should be able to see both sides of the story fairly and make a judgment based on the facts (I have no intention of turning this into a court case so you don't have to prepare for jury duty, though you may see it as you place). Banks goes on to mention in her interview that she is tired of blogs and magazines like Complex, Bossip, XXL and The Source that entertain these discussions and ideas just to "get your fuckin clicks" and make headlines and money. Reasonable point right?  Living the industry lifestyle has shown that you will have to deal with constant publicity, press, pictures and videos you don't want shot of you, and even LEAKED footage and pictures that you don't even plan to be seen (no this isn't about the fappening, perverts). Banks also went on to say that these sites are "creating the bad picture."

Now comes the second side of the story:  Banks' known history for beef and problems/disputes being made public. Azealia Banks almost has a catalog of problems and beef with other artists/rappers, Iggy Azalea only being the latest on that list. She goes on to talk about some of these issues in the interview with Ebro, including one with T.I. and his wife Tiny (which I had no idea even was a thing, who knew this "beef" even existed?  And to start it with T.I., the king of maturity in rap and focusing on himself and his family, what exactly did Banks plan to accomplish with starting something with T.I.?). Who sounds like the attention seeker during this part of the interview?  Relevancy can be obtained in any way you wish (especially as an artist), whether that be the good way or the bad way, then again why would the saying "any publicity is good publicity" exist?

But my points don't stop there. Ebro goes on to mention to Banks that he believes putting the energy into social media (tweeting about her problems) wasn't the right decision in his eyes. "Putting the energy into your music" as Ebro put it, has proven time and time again for artists (Drake, Eminem, anyone who you believe vents about life in their music) to be a successful method, and even if the success doesn't show up in sales, how could it not help your own personal views and mindset?  "Putting it all on wax" is almost therapeutic, and has been known to help not only the artists going through the struggles, but even their fan bases to feel better throughout the process (although beefing with T.I. might not have been something you've done lately). So this leads to my next question:  why not preach what you say in your music in real life?  If you're rapping or singing about it, why don't you talk about it?  This isn't always the case for every artist nowadays, so I'll be more specific: WHY HASN'T AZEALIA BANKS VENTED ABOUT THIS BULL IN HER MUSIC?!

This topic of conversation has been, is, and always will be a slippery slope. You don't know about making music unless you do it, and you definitely don't know about making music in the industry unless you do it (the difference in numbers between the 2 is astounding, believe it or not, going from mix tape rapper to platinum seller is a lot harder than some make it look, though I can't speak from experience). The key seems to be finding balance. (In my opinion) Azealia Banks is too often found in the spotlight for her beef and social media rants than she is for her music, so I only see this latest rant as her craving more attention than really trying to make a point. These interviews certainly make for some entertainment if you don't get your daily fix, but the fact that this is making news might be an example of a bigger problem. Shortly after this interview made waves online Banks got into some Twitter arguments (surprise) with rapper Action Bronson, be sure to check out those tweets if you can find them, and definitely be sure to check out Banks' interview discussing all of these things with Hot 97 below (Banks' views on Iggy and her rant begin at the 8:20 mark).

                                            (*I do not own this video, or the rights to it*)