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Iggy Azalea, Azealia Banks Feud Rages On as T.I., Q-Tip Weigh In

Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks
Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks are in a bitter feud.

Iggy Azalea has so many more problems. The Australian rapper, 24, has been in a bitter feud with Azealia Banks for more than two years now, and the conflict just heated up in recent weeks. 

The latest round of insults between the two began last week, when Banks, 23, mentioned Azalea in an interview with New York’s Hot 97. During the chat, she criticized the “Fancy” rapper for her relationship with the black community, as well as the music industry’s treatment of the artist (one of the breakouts of 2014) in a traditionally African-American genre. 

“I feel, just like in this country, whenever it comes to our things, like black issues or black politics or black music or whatever, there’s always this undercurrent of kind of like a, ‘F–k you,'” she said. “That Iggy Azalea s–t isn’t better than any f–king black girl that’s rapping today, you know?… Iggy Azalea is not excellent.”

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Azalea fired back on Twitter soon after, writing, “Special msg for banks: There are many black artists succeeding in all genres. The reason you haven’t is because of your piss poor attitude… Your inability to be responsible for your own mistakes, bullying others, the inability to be humble or self control. It’s YOU!”

That round in the Azalea v. Azealia war ignited responses from both veteran MC Q-Tip and T.I., Azalea’s mentor. A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip, 44, waxed lyrically about the roots of hip-hop in a long-winded history lesson on Twitter

“HipHop is a artistic and socio-political movement/culture… Being a spirited, rhythmic & expressive people music art dance outlined our existence,” he wrote. “It proved a way for us to exhault to scream to dance to laugh and find OUR VOICE… we weren’t at the time skilled musicians as kids. We had records, turntables, ideas and INGENUITY being natural chemist we took from whatever was availed to us and we created something mighty and special.”

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T.I. and Q-Tip

“During these strides this country still had the monster of racism and racial insensitivity breathing and ruling,” Q-Tip continued. Believe it or not young black n Latino lives specifically weren’t acknowledged in mainstream American culture unless Of course.. the convo was abt gangs , being criminals or uneducated. And hey! Like I stated early our families were rushed our schools sucked and we were left to put devices to survive… but HIPHOP showed that we had DEPTH, fire, and BRILLANCE… the music was undeniable! It moved from NY N became national and even GLOBAL.”

“Hiphop now was FOR EVERYBODY!!” he added. “Now u are fulfilling your dreams … BUT! you have to take into account the HISTORY as you move underneath the banner of hiphop… U may ask why … Well once you are born black your existence I believe is joined with socio-political epitaph and philos based on the tangled and treacherous history SLAVERY alone this is the case it never leaves our conversation… Ever. WeAther in our universities our dinner tables our studios or jail cells… the effects still resononates with us… We get emotional and angry and melancholy… When certain ‘niceties’ r extended your way because of how u look? Isn’t that crazy?… I say this 2 say u are a hiphop artist who has the right 2 express herself however she wishes… this is not a chastisement this is not admonishment at ALL this is just one artist reaching to another hoping to spark insight into the field you r in. I say this in the spirit of a hopeful healthy dialogue that maybe one day we can continue.”

“No Mediocre” rapper T.I., 34, who helped discover Azalea and collaborates with her regularly, came to his protege’s defense. 

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Responding to Q-Tip’s diatribe, he wrote, “All these facts are true. This is useful info to absorb as U find yourself in da midst of several people who U may not share many things in common with besides #HipHop. Understanding the plight assists U in knowing how to accept,respect & live in harmony even without a boatload of  similarities.”

“Also what I think my big Bruh kinda left out is that OUR people (blacks in America,& HIPHOP) have had much less qualified White People come along & manipulate our culture for their own pers gain,” he continued. “This lead to an almost incoherent overly defensive, paranoid sense of ‘All White People Wanna Steal Our S–t’ mentality. Now as difficult as this is to believe…. We think all white people who do our s–t gotta kiss our ass or we don’t like em!!! ‘Dey shady!!!’ (Lol No pun intended) But me knowing U,Eminem,and a handful of other (just so happen to be) white people who were inspired by our culture allowed ME TO SEE, that not all white people out to steal our culture. There are some that merely wish to contribute to it.”

“I know u don’t deserve all da negative s–t that comes your way,” T.I. added to Azalea. “But like I’ve told u before, it just kinda comes wit da territory when u gain so much positive attn SO FAST! It all balances out. I know u been broke,hungry& disgusted before,so I know u know just like I do It COULD BE A LOT WORSE. If dis all U gotta put up wit/sacrifice to earn our very above average lifestyles….”

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