Ever the outspoken one, Azealia Banks, is now defending her decision to undergo skin-bleaching treatments in a Facebook livestream. The “212” rapper sent a message to fans because her decision to these procedures was unpredictable to say the least.
“I don’t really think it’s important to discuss the cultural significance of skin bleaching anymore because I think that, just as African-American people, 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,” she said in the video posted to her Facebook account.
She continued with, “I guess people see the skin-bleaching thing as something different but I see it as another… assimilation thing. It’s a continuation of the falsification of self that comes with being a black person in America."
According to Billboard, Banks was banned from her now infamous Twitter account this past May following inappropriate remarks on race, which is probably why she posted this video of herself to Facebook during a bike ride.
The rapper went on to explain that she considers it “bleaching” not lightening and that environmental factors have contributed to her clogged pores, which lead to chemical peels that may make her skin appear lighter. She further said that skin-bleaching is a “dark world” and that cheaper products are sold to women without as much money that contain corroding ingredients.
Banks also stated, “To say that [skin bleaching] negates what I’ve been saying about blackness in America is ignorant and just stupid.” In typical Azealia fashion, she ended the rant with a few well-placed swear words.
