Azealia Banks isn’t happy with Beyoncé‘s upcoming album. The 32-year-old rapper penned a lengthy rant about the 42-year-old Grammy winner’s latest creation, Cowboy Carter, calling its cover art an example of “white women cosplay” among other accusations.
“Wow, we didn’t even try to put even a little effort into a more artistic title?” Azealia wrote via her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, March 19, across the image of Bey’s latest picture of her country-themed album. “Sis, I live for Whiteyonce Donatella Bianca Bardot DOWN, but I’m kind of ashamed at how [you] switch from Baobab trees and Black Parade to this literal pick me stuff [sic].”
Azealia continued, “Like u do lame stuff like bring out some blacklisted white women (Dixie Chicks) at the Country Music Awards. and they would never, ever do the same for you. Ur always sharing ur platform with white women, who are so jealous of you but have such a long history of sabotaging other black careers [sic].”
After repeating that she feels Bey’s album exemplifies “white women cosplay,” Azealia added, “You’re reinforcing the false rhetoric that country music is a post-civl war art form.”
Azealia has quite a bit to say about Cowboy Carter lol pic.twitter.com/66oAIIDQyK
— Ichigo Niggasake (@SomaKazima) March 20, 2024
“I just wish you would get unobsessed with being boring and pretty all the time,” the “212” artist wrote. “We want you to be deep and artsy, and avant garden and f**k our heads up, and shift culture and do Tex-merengue-tejano-ton. I just don’t understand all the attention being given from one of the times’ biggest stars to a purposely secluded all-whites club of damn near nobodies who’d never acknowledge you.”
Azealia then pointed out that Beyoncé has shared her platform with artists, such as Lady Gaga, the Dixie Chicks and Shakira, “but we’re supposed to buy into this falsified victim crap about not being accepted in a genre you’ve dabbled here and there?”
While noting that Bey’s single “16 Carriages” “doesn’t even make sense in context,” Azealia concluded her rant by writing, “Sis, I’m sorry to rain on your parade, but there’s actually nothing monumental about [your album].”
“Had you made a great country song … going number one should be the headline without the weird race part,” Azealia added. “But like Kelsea Ballerini and Carrie Underwood have better songs than whatever nauseating little Bey on the prairie stuff is going on.”
Beyoncé has not publicly responded to the rapper’s statements.