Only two weeks shy of 25, New York rapper Azealia Banks has become a social-media sensation for what many consider racist tweets — all while backing Donald Trump.

Azealia Banks. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Twitter has suspended her account. But Banks still holds court on Instagram.

The Atlantic magazine, which profiled her as an anarchist in March, added this week: “She’s flung hate speech at nearly every identity group imaginable, with her latest flare-up slurring the singer Zayn Malik for being Pakistani and the actress Skai Jackson for being young. This time, the results are that she’s been dropped from a U.K. music festival and — this is big, though possibly coincidentally timed — suspended from Twitter.”

The Guardian newspaper gave background:

“After Banks accused Malik of copying a music video of hers for his single Like I Would, Malik tweeted ‘My @’s too good for you’ – a reference to the fact that Banks had not directed the accusation at his account for him to see.

“In response, Banks struck out directly at Malik on Twitter, using a number of both homophobic and racial slurs. However, attacking Malik disturbed the buzzing hornets nest of One Direction fans on Twitter, who quickly swarmed to his defense.”

She has defenders, of course, including Carol Hood of the female-centric The Establishment, who noted on Friday:

“Azealia Banks’ tweets are absolutely chaotic. She may have had it right when it came to all things Iggy Azalea. She may have had it right when she called for reparations. But in the end, no matter how much fans of her music coaxed her to drop her strange antics — defending Bill Cosby, tossing around homophobic slurs while claiming it’s okay because she’s bisexual —Banks seemed determined to burn her own fledgling career to the ground.”

“We were rooting for you! We were all rooting for you! But the incredibly- talented-yet-shameful-24-year-old-rapper from Harlem just cannot get it together, resulting in her Twitter demise.

“And yet, I cannot help but wonder, of all the threats and verbal abuse that routinely happen on social media, which are usually touted as falling under the protection of ‘free speech,’ why act on this one?”

Many agreed.

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