Azealia Banks is one of the most controversial rappers who ever lived. She once praised John Lennon’s most offensive song. The tune proved offensive even at the time, even if John was trying to write something with a progressive message.
Azealia Banks said this John Lennon song is 1 of the best song ever
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During a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, Banks was asked if social media had become a bigger deal in the world of music than music itself. “Yeah,” she replied. “But it’s not music. They’re selling ideas, lifestyles, whatever comes out of liberal academia’s a**.
“And it changes,” she continued. “It’s almost like the unwritten rules of Blackness, it’s like the unwritten rules of just how to conduct yourself. John Lennon wrote a song called ‘Woman Is the N***** of the World,’ and here we are years later calling it one of the best songs of all time.”
John Lennon’s track was inspired by something Yoko Ono said in an interview
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The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon features an interview from 1972. In it, John discussed the origin of the song. He recalled Yoko Ono saying the title phrase during an interview with Nova magazine where she was talking about feminist issues. The quote appeared on the cover of the magazine. John agreed with the sentiment, noting that women are widely mistreated across the globe. John and Yoko did the best they could to adapt Yoko’s words into a pop song.
Even at the time, “Woman Is the N***** of the World” stoked controversy. Some radio stations refused to play a song where a white man repeatedly sang an anti-Black slur. Regardless, John said his Black friends took no issue with the song.
John recalled a politician referring to his song. “And then, strangely enough, the chairman of the Black Caucus, that great guy Congressman Ron Dellums — Democrat, California, it says here — he came out with this, which is fantastic: ‘If you define ‘n*****’ as someone whose lifestyle is defined by others, whose opportunities are defined by others, whose role in society is defined by others, then good news: you don’t have to be black to be a n***** in this society. Most of the people in America are n*****,’” John said.
Azealia Banks might love the song, but it shouldn’t exist
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John and Yoko might have written “Woman Is the N*****” with the best of intentions. And it’s admirable that they wanted to draw attention to women’s issues through songs. However, it was not their place to use the offensive slur in the English language. Other white artists who have worked that slur into their music for purposes of provocation include Patti Smith (“Rock N Roll N*****”), Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses (“One in a Million”), and Marilyn Manson (“Irresponsible Hate Anthem”).
“Woman Is the N***** of the World” was controversial then, and it would be even more controversial if it came out today. However, Banks said it has incredible artistic value.
