Why Azealia Bank Thinks ‘The Beatles Suck’

Since she always goes for the headshot, Azealia Banks plainly said The Beatles suck when that wasn’t even the topic at hand. She prefers another 1960s band to the Fab Four. Interestingly, John Lennon himself wasn’t always the biggest Beatles fan.

Azealia Banks hates The Beatles but loves 1 John Lennon song

During a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, Banks was asked her opinion of cancel culture. She responded with a non sequitur: “By the way, I think The Beatles suck.”

The reporter was confused by the out-of-left-field pronouncement. “I said, ‘By the way, I think The Beatles suck,'” Banks reiterated. “I’m a Beach Boys girl,” she explained. Her comment was likely a reference to the fact that The Beatles and The Beach Boys were chart rivals during the mid-1960s. Because the two groups delved into the worlds of both bubblegum pop and psychedelic rock, they are often compared to each other.

During the same interview, Banks said she loves one John Lennon solo song: “Woman Is the N***** of the World.” She implied her opinion is widespread. That’s an odd thing to say, as “Woman Is the N***** of the World” is remembered as one of the most offensive moments in rock history. She cited “Woman Is the N***** of the World” as an example of how cultural standards constantly change.

Azealia Banks thinks streaming ruined music

While Banks isn’t a Beatlemaniac, that doesn’t mean she prefers modern music. When asked about the newer generation of musicians, the “212” rapper wasn’t optimistic. “I don’t mean … to be a hater,” she said. “But like I said, the music industry now, it’s not a music industry — it’s the most devalued art form in all the art forms.

“Because with streaming and everything, people are getting desperate, and they’re doing everything else but making good music,” she added. “Doing videos and all this other stuff, but it’s like, the music sucks. Once everyone started doing three hours of makeup to do a 15-second TikTok, I kind of tuned out.”

Banks was asked if she had any optimism for the future. “I’m optimistic about Azealia Banks,” she responded. “I love Azealia Banks. I think she’s incredible.”

John Lennon had plenty of negative things to say about The Beatles

Banks’ words are closer to John’s opinions than one might think. The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John decried critics for reading too much into his lyrics. John said his writing style was just combining multiple images and calling his words “poetry.”

In a similar vein, John insulted many Beatles songs throughout the interview while defending “Woman Is the N***** of the World.” The “Imagine” singer also revealed that he wasn’t a huge fan of any Fab Four album and that he felt Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band lacked cohesion. However, he didn’t go so far as to say The Beatles sucked or were inferior to The Beach Boys.

Banks didn’t think The Beatles were perfect and neither did John.