Azealia Banks slams Lemonade, calls Beyoncé ‘a thief’

It seems like everyone has an opinion on Beyoncé’s Lemonade. The heavily hyped visual album, which premiered this weekend on HBO, has garnered glowing praise from critics and fans, with many calling it a perfect homage to the black female experience. 

Inevitably, though, others have not been so impressed. In a series of tweets posted yesterday afternoon, Azealia Banks shared her thoughts on the record – calling it both anti-feminist, colourist, and harmful to black women. “This heartbroken black female narrative you keep trying to push is the antithesis of what feminism is,” the rapper wrote. “You been singing about this nigga for years and he still playing you. That’s not strength that’s stupidity.”

The 12-track album follows the singer’s emotional journey as she gets to grips with a cheating partner, with many listeners speculating that it could be an autobiographical account of Beyoncé’s marriage to Jay Z. “You keep crying over a man and perpetuating that sad black female sufferance,” added Banks, referencing the star’s ultimate decision to ‘forgive’ her husband. “It’s not what the national black women’s conversation needs right now. More pain more suffering in the face of a man”.

Banks, whose latest video for “The Big Big Beat” dropped yesterday, also accused Beyoncé of being a “thief”, asserting that she had been “pumping African traditional religions/witchcraft” for a “long” time. She continued: “She’s not a ‘sister’, she’s a poacher. She’s a thief. Sisters don’t steal, sisters share.”

If that wasn’t enough shaking of the Beyhive in one day, Iggy Azalea also took to Twitter to share her issues. After being called a ‘becky’ on the social media site – in reference Beyoncé’s already infamous “Becky with the good hair” line – the Australian rapper vented her frustrations, calling the slur “stereotypical” and “not cool”.

“Dont ever call me a becky,” Azalea wrote. “Generalizing ANY race by calling them one sterotypical name for said race. i personally dont think is very cool, the end (sic).”

Banks, once again, shared her opinion on the subject.

As ever, there’s been no word from Beyoncé’s camp on any of the above (and, let’s be honest, there probably never will be). But do you think either of them have a point? Could Becky be seen as a damaging “racial slur”? And could Lemonade actually be promoting harmful stereotypes?