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Azealia Banks

Azealia Banks is a Harlem rapper, singer, and songwriter whose debut single “212” became a defining song of the 2010s. Openly bisexual and famously outspoken, she sits at the center of a long public argument about colorism: she defended lightening her own skin in 2016 while arguing that the industry dismissed her because of her dark complexion.

Career

Rapper; Singer; Songwriter

Origin / Ethnicity / Heritage

African American

Additional Languages

English

Pronouns

She/Her

About
Origin / Ethnicity / Heritage
African American
Pronouns
She/Her
Location
New York City, New York, United States
Additional Languages
English

Music

Explore More Music by Black Queer Womxn

2011

212

Artist

Banks’s breakthrough single, the lead track of her 1991 EP.

  • NME · 2016-07-05 · Written

    Azealia Banks defends her decision to bleach her skin

    Report on Azealia Banks defending her decision to bleach her skin in a Facebook Live video, insisting there is no disconnect between her championing of Black women and her decision to lighten her skin tone.

    Curated by Carolyn Satchell

  • Stylist · Written

    “Azealia Banks is wrong”: why skin bleaching is steeped in racism

    Opinion piece answering Azealia Banks’s defense of skin lightening, in which she likened it to body modifications such as a weave or a nose job; contributor Kuba Shand-Baptiste explains why skin bleaching is an indefensible and dangerous process.

    Curated by Carolyn Satchell

    Opinion piece; published July 2016, exact day not displayed.

  • EURweb · 2016-07-07 · Written

    Azealia Banks Defends Decision to Bleach Her Skin

    Report on Azealia Banks defending her skin bleaching; after a year of proudly owning her Blackness while saying the industry dismissed her beauty and talent because of her dark complexion, she said there is no difference between changing her skin color and plastic surgery or hair extensions.

    Curated by Carolyn Satchell