Azealia Banks has taken to Instagram hours after the death of rapper DMX, to voice her concerns about the music industry’s take on health.
DMX has been on the hearts and minds of his followers, and his recent death has left many rattled as the prolific rapper died at just age 50.
His music focussed extensively on street crime and drug addiction, and he would go on to earn three Grammy nominations for his craft.
In the wake of his death, many stars have led tributes, such as fellow East Coast rapper SZA, but it’s Azealia Banks that’s really drawing attention to other consequences.
If you grew up on the east coast this shit REALLY HIT DIFFERENT.. #RIPDMX
— SZA (@sza) April 9, 2021
She accuses the music industry of trying to profit off their stars, at the expense of their wellbeing.
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She begins with “sincere condolences to DMX’s family,” before getting to the crux of the issue.
“You have somebody like DMX, who, for so long, was crying out for help, crying out for fucking help. Letting people know that he needed help, legitimate help,” she said.
Azealia Banks then drew parrallels with her own career, and her struggle to get help.
“There have been a lot of times in my career where I’ve had fans, like ‘Azealia, go get help,’ ‘Go to the therapist,’” she said. “But guess what, I couldn’t afford to go see a fucking therapist because I had business managers, lawyers, managers, record labels, everybody stealing my fucking money. Weaving this fucking web that is impossible to fucking penetrate.”
She pointed out how enablers would get caught in the circle of the artist, only to cash in on their death once they passed. Her solution to stop this cycle starts with health insurance, by writing it into the artist’s contract at the start.
“…If you guys are going to sign people into these lifelong contracts where they are offering up their fucking intellectual property, health insurance, and the top health insurance has to be a no-motherfucking-brainer,” she said.
Aside from her proposal, Azealia Banks also took to Instagram to criticise the music industry’s promotion of drug use, and namely rapper Travis Scott who she considers to have a drug problem.
Banks is one to call it as she sees it, but hopefully her message does cause those in the industry to take serious note of how they treat their star’s health.
You can read more about this topic over at the Hip Hop Observer.
Check out ‘Anna Wintour’ by Azealia Banks:
