Azealia Banks sat down with Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy for her first Breakfast Club appearance on Friday (May 11).
Things started off relatively smooth with the controversial rapper saying she lives a “normal life” and calling herself “that dorky black girl that everyone thins is kind of weird.” But once the topic turned to the infamous RZA and Russell Crowe incident, things took a sharp left.
“I don’t give a fuck about RZA,” Banks tells Charlamagne at the 38:47 mark. “RZA can call me when he has some money for me.”
The Wu-Tang Clan vet had cast Banks in his 2017 film Love Beats Rhymes, which also starred Jill Scott, Method Man and Common. But prior to its release, Banks accused Crowe of assaulting her at Las Vegas hotel and RZA didn’t come to her defense. Banks explained once the movie was released, she didn’t want to promote it.[apple_news_ad type=”any”]
“It was embarrassing,” she says. “All of the things that happen around the movie was humiliating. What director is going to throw the star of the movie under the bus? Like you fucking idiot. It was really stupid. To see someone that I thought was a wise guru to do something so stupid …[it] was fucking up both our reputations.
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“If RZA was smart, he should’ve just shut the fuck up. Who wants to see a movie where the director slams the lead actress? You [RZA] ruined my moment. I really don’t give a fuck about these two fucking clowns. My biggest thing is you fucked my moment up. That was my movie and you fucked it up RZA.”
In between insults, Banks also accused RZA of being on cocaine every time she’d show up to work on the film’s soundtrack.
“You fucked the both of us out of a lot of fucking money, you dumb ass,” she says. “Fucking idiot. Now, RZA and I are out of a lot of fucking money. The movie flopped. We didn’t have a soundtrack. Every time you’re calling me to go to the studio, I show up to the studio and you’re fucking coked out.
“RZA’s a dummy. He’s a really dummy. Don’t believe any of that fuckin’ gong-banging, nunchuck-throwing shit he be talking about. That nigga is a fucking clown. The nigga read one self-help book and he thinks he’s some sensai. Everyone saw The Man With The Iron Fist and it was trash. You’re not a talented director. Russell Crowe will never work with you again.”
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Cardi B wasn’t safe from Banks’ wrath either. When confronted about calling the “Bodak Yellow” rapper “an illiterate rat” back in February, she essentially credited the low standards in current mainstream rap for Cardi’s success.
“When I look at black women’s culture as a whole thing and then you think about the media and the power the media has … the media has the power to make anyone at the forefront,” she says. “I think that it’s very concerning to me that this conversation surrounding back women’s culture changed.
“I feel like maybe two years ago the conversation about black culture was really reaching an all time high. We were really discussing the power among ourselves. Then everything just changed. Then, it was like Cardi B.”[apple_news_ad type=”any”]
Banks went on to describe Cardi as a “caricature of a black woman that black women themselves would never be able to get away with.”
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“If my spelling and grammar was that bad I’d be cancelled,” she says. “If Nicki Minaj spelled like that, they’d be ragging on her all day. When it comes to this female rap thing that we have, I don’t understand how we go from Beyoncé and Lemonade and Solange and all these great conversations to like … this. I know we’re not monolithic but come on.
“It’s not that [she’s a stripper]. I feel like you guys use everything to make this bigger than what it is. I just don’t understand the extreme lack of couth. I’ve never seen that. I’ve never seen that at the forefront of female rap. I didn’t know that the bar would be lowered so much. It was kind of like a culture shock. When you’re talking about this female rap thing — bitches that really push their pen, girls that live, breathe and sweat this art thing — I just feel like it’s unfair to the real institution of female rap.”
Before going any further, Banks caught herself and stopped going down that road. Instead, she did a little self-promotion for her latest single, “Anna Wintour,” which was released last month.
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“I think you give Cardi B enough fucking free promotion,” she says. “Let’s talk about ‘Anna Wintour.’ In fact, I think Cardi B would love ‘Anna Wintour.’ I think it would make her feel really good if she listened to ‘Anna Wintour.’ Maybe she should put the headphones on her belly and let the baby hear ‘Anna Wintour.'”
Watch the full interview above. [apple_news_ad type=”any”]
