So, I am as disappointed as anyone about Azealia vs. Angel…
… but here’s what bugs me about getting all scoldy about it: The blame shouldn’t fall solely on the shoulders of these two hugely talented young women. This isn’t an isolated incident. It’s happened too many times between female rappers. The bigger problem is the fucking Thunderdome mentality women in hip hop are forced to adopt because so much of the music press will only accept women rappers as an exception or a sideshow or — maybe at best — a trend piece. The problem is also that the music press likes women who rap to be a novelty — and, since they find it easier to write white female rappers into that category, female rappers of color often get ignored. Azealia Banks and Angel Haze are not getting ignored, but neither has broken out to Nicki Minaj-level fame yet, either. So if they both understand pop-music history (and they’re both smart people, so of course they do), then they’re sure to have a creeping suspicion thatthere can only be oneand some kind of death match will need to take place to determine who that one will be. I’m not saying either comes out of this fight looking great, but we’re going to keep seeing this shit until the competitive landscape for female rappers changes drastically. Maybe this is all obvious, but it’s not really a discussion I’m seeing amid all the finger-wagging.
