Azealia Banks is no stranger to controversy and a recent video she released online has yet again caused a stir. The artist who previously dubbed Dazed cover star, Zayn Malik, a “curry scented bitch” has admitted that she has started to bleach her skin.

In true Azealia Banks style, the singer clapped back at critics on Instagram; asking questions like, “What's the difference between getting a nose job and changing your skin colour?” Although the post was originally a part of a 21-minute live-stream on Facebook, a clip from the broadcast can be found on World Star Hip Hop below:

Describing it as “body modification”, Banks goes on to compare lightening your skin tone to wearing a hair weave. “Nobody was upset when I was wearing 30-inch weaves and tearing out my edges and doing all that type of shit like that. You guys loved it,” she said, defending her new look. However, after receiving harsh criticism on social media the 212 star appears to be confused by everyone’s reaction to skin bleaching in comparison to other forms of personal grooming. “What is the difference?” she added. “I don’t understand what the difference is.”

As someone who has been very outspoken about race and racism, namely calling out Iggy Azealia for cultural appropriation and slamming Beyoncé’s depiction of black female identity in Lemonade, this recent news has come as a shock to some, with many on social media branding her a hypocrite. However the suggestion that her new skin tone negates anything she has said in the past about the current plight of black people in America to her is “just stupid” and “petty”.

She also said: "I don't really think it's important to discuss the cultural significance of skin bleaching anymore because just as African-American people in this world, or Black people, you assimilate. There are things that you accept not out of necessity, but things that become the norm because it's just happening all of the time."

Watch the rest of the live stream here