As a gay man, I live for the simple pleasures in life: iced coffee, tweeting about A Star Is Born, and buying floral shirts at Zara.
But nothing, NOTHING, excites me more than two pop stars beefing online. We LOVE some social media drama!
But I was NOT ready for today's feud, when singer Lana Del Rey replied to rapper Azealia Banks after nearly two weeks of radio silence. And boy, did she reply HARD.
So pull up a chair, because I'm going to break this down for you. In the words of Azealia herself, "WHAT IS THE TEA?! The girls are FIGHTING!!!"
It all started when Lana went IN on rapper Kanye West after he shared a selfie on Instagram wearing a MAGA hat. Lana did NOT hold back at all.
Azealia did not like what she had to see, and decided to call out Lana on what she saw as hypocrisy on the singer's part.
Wow okay Lana, this would be cute if you were consistent with your outrage and refused to collab with ASAP rocky who has physically assaulted women too. To me this just looks like the typical White woman taking using a weakened target to βpretendβ to be an ally. https://t.co/34VEqiiy2t
She goes further in depth, but you should get the idea of what she saw wrong here.
Especially because you know that a white woman vs a black male will result in an immediate victory for the white woman due to societal circumstances. You wouldnβt dare challenge a black woman on her opinion because you donβt have that (much of a) social prejudice in place between
For context, Lana doesn't really tweet that much, and she also doesn't always engage with artists who take a swing at her. So imagine my surprise when almost two weeks later, not only did she reply to Azealia β she told her to "PULL UP ANYTIME." Whew!
@shopcheapyxo u know the addy. Pull up anytime. Say it to my face. But if I were you- I wouldnβt.
Lana then had some pretty choice words for the rapper...
I wonβt not fuck you the fuck up. Period.
...before seemingly dropping the mic. HARD.
Banks. u coulda been the greatest female rapper alive but u blew it. dont take it out on the only person who had ur back.
Initially, it didn't look like Azealia was going to engage.
But that didn't last long.
I feel powerful.
First, Azealia plugged her soap line, Bussyboy (more on that in a bit)...
That will certainly drawn attention to this #CHEAPYXO account!! Hey cuties!!! Welcome to my soap shop! Azealia Sells Soap because Azealia Got Bars!!!
...before making some pretty gross comments about plastic surgery and Lana's physical appearance. Lana swung pretty low too, taking some shots at the rapper's mental health.
While Lana stopped replying, Azealia has been retweeting commentary on the beef AND plugging her soap line one more time:
Wow Lana just let me finesse her for #CHEAPYXO promo. Werk Novice Witch!!! @LanaDelRey youβre officially my SON!
And just when you thought everything was over (seriously, stuff is happening as I write this damn thing, I can't type fast enough) Lana had more to say:
Now as a gay man deeply ingrained in Stan Twitter, my head was spinning trying to make sense of that all. I can't IMAGINE how that might be for anyone who isn't as obsessed with stan culture. So to help, I've added some additional context to this feud and why it matters.
What's the deal with Lana Del Rey?
What's the deal with Azealia Banks?
What is the reaction?
For the most part, the reaction from Stan Twitter seems to be VERY amused by the beef and pretty pro-Lana. People love the fact she called out Azealia (albeit a little late) when most artists won't engage with the rapper. Her challenge for Azealia to "pull up" drew a lot of praise, as did her "Period." comment. That being said, no one was here for Azealia's body-shaming or Lana criticizing the rapper's mental health.
The thing is, it isn't exactly an even match. While Azealia has passionate defenders, her polarizing nature has put off a lot of stans over the years. She also has a reputation as a bully who ALSO can't take criticism on her own (she ran off the Wild N Out stage earlier this year). Lana, on the other hand, can draw from a wide and devoted fan base.
People LOVED Lana's initial call-out.
Lana on the timeline with the fucking YOPPERRRR
A LOT.
lana del rey telling azealia banks to pull up just pulled me out of my depression https://t.co/LFRH5DqRcL
Like, she WENT for it.
Lana Del Reyweather https://t.co/gnBnWnqwcO
But mostly, people were amused with the fight.
Watching Azealia and Lana fight on twitter is like watching my anxiety and depression battle it out over what's going to keep me from enjoying life today. I'm curious and I'm invested, but I don't like it!!!!!!!
Especially considering the parties involved.
azealia is killing a chicken and hexing lana right now and lana blocking her evil spells with light magic i'm screaming the witch fight of the decade
But no one was here for the low blows.
The body shaming and mental health stigma is a lot π¬ the girls are spiraling
So where does that leave us?
Thank you for coming to Stan Twitter 101. Class dismissed!
UPDATE
This post has been updated to include additional tweets from Lana and Azealia.
CORRECTION
An earlier version of this post included a duplicate tweet.