Hackney festival dumps top rapper after ‘racist and xenophobic’ rant

Azealia Banks lashed out at Zayn Malik on Twitter. Pic: Anna Soerensen

A music festival in Hackney has dropped the award-winning American rapper Azealia Banks after she tweeted racist and homophobic remarks to former One Direction singer Zayn Malik.

The Born and Bred festival in Haggerston announced earlier today (May 11) that it had decided to drop Banks after she verbally attacked Malik on Twitter.

Rinse FM, who organised the festival, stated: “We have decided to cancel Azealia Banks’ headline appearance at Rinse | Born & Bred Festival.

“Rinse | Born & Bred Festival is a celebration of rave culture and has been created for EVERYONE. We celebrate inclusivity and equality.”

.@bornandbredLDN ANNOUNCEMENT pic.twitter.com/JkwoXLChya

— Rinse FM (@RinseFM) 11 maj 2016

The feud started with the New York singer accusing Malik of copying her style with the new music video for his single “Like I Would”.

Banks took to Instagram and wrote: “D***, Zayn be mood boarding the s**t out of me… I’m not mad about this though. Zayn is a cutie pie.”

The former One Direction member responded on Twitter with: “No lies…I see you reaching but I don’t care” and then “My @’s too good for you”.

The argument escalated and Banks launched her homophobic, racist and xenophobic rant against him on Twitter, commenting on his background as a son to a Pakistani father and an English-Irish mother who was raised a Muslim.

Azealia Banks’ Twitter feed. Pic: @AZEALIABANKS

Banks’ Twitter tantrum went on for a while, as Malik’s fans got involved, calling her racist and xenophobic, to which Banks attacked Malik’s UK fans with offensive and racist remarks.

Azealia Banks’ Twitter feed. Pic: @AZEALIABANKS

Following the news that Banks had been dropped, she claimed on Twitter that everyone was only going to see her, but she was quickly put down by DJ Geeneus (Gordon Warren), the founder of Rinse FM.