The very outspoken Azealia Banks is usually going on the offensive, dissing other stars left and right about whatever"s pissing her off today.
But now the rapper is playing defense after she took a hit from fans about her decision to bleach her skin.
Followers came down on her in June when they noticed her skin tone in recent pics appeared significantly lighter.
It was later revealed that Banks, who has been vocal about racism against dark-skinned blacks in the past, used the skin bleaching product Whitenicious to modify her complexion.
"I love how she"s the one talking about blackness all the time and now she bleaches her skin," lamented one fan.
Banks recently addressed the criticism in a 21-minute Facebook Live video, which was just deleted as we wrote this post. (Luckily, BeBoxMusic captured a small clip of it, seen below.)
“I don’t really think it’s important to discuss the cultural significance of skin bleaching anymore,” Banks told fans.
“Just as black people in this world, you assimilate, and there are things you accept, not just out of necessity but things become norm because they just happen all the time.”
So… she did it because it happens all the time?
She compares the decision to that of any woman who opts to alter her appearance.
"Its a deeper conversation into a woman"s right to choose, a woman"s choice," she said.
"What"s the difference between getting a nose job and changing your skin color?"
In 2015, Banks tweeted about the difficulties of being a dark-skinned woman and how it has affected her personally.
"The treatment I get for being a dark skinned woman just makes me want to lay down and die sometimes," she wrote.
"They hate us, they treat us like dogs, then turn around and ask why we’re mad. I don’t care what anyone says: men in general despise dark skinned women."
Of course, Banks" Twitter account was suspended in May after she (ironically) went on a racist, homophobic rant against singer Zayn Malik.
She concludes by basically telling fans to chill.
"I don"t think that me rubbing on some f**kin" bleaching cream or some cake soap is gonna be the end of the revolution, guys."
Watch a clip of the rant below:
