Azealia Banks insists the music industry “cannot get rid of [her]”.
The 31-year-old rap star hasn’t released an album in almost a decade, but Azealia insists she’s not a “has-been”.
The rapper – who shot to global stardom with her 2011 hit single ‘212’ – said: “What is success in music any more? Nobody knows, and for the people who do know, it means scheduling your smiles and crafting some weird character.
“I think it’s really unfair that people call Azealia Banks a has-been – you are a never-was, and a never-f******-will-be. You didn’t have the courage to put yourself out there because you were afraid you were going to fail, but I’ve had success.
“You only have to be right one time to be considered successful, and my batting average is very f****** high.”
Azealia feels proud of her new music and she’s also proud that she’s managed to battle against the odds in the industry.
She told the Guardian newspaper: “My music is good as s***! If you can’t get off to your own s***, then you probably should not be making music.
“I’ve done this by myself, with knives in my back, rocks thrown at me, kicked off cliffs. And I still keep coming back – you cannot get rid of me.
“Y’all have all the help in the world, y’all got writers, y’all got producers, y’all got f****** everybody! And you still sound like s***.”
Despite this, Azealia is aware that she’s become an easy target for criticism over the years.
She said: “Even though I know that the internet is not a real place, there are enough people who take it seriously enough to feel like they can put their hands on me in real life.
“They feel like they can launch frivolous lawsuits and use this villainous, stupid narrative against me.”