Whose side are you on: Cardi B or Azealia Banks? | The Tylt

In The Breakfast Club interview, Banks had this to say about Cardi's behavior:

 “Two years ago, the conversation surrounding black women’s culture was really reaching an all-time high, and we were really like discussing our power amongst ourselves, and, you know, Beyoncé came out with Lemonade. There was just this really, really, really intelligent conversation going on nationally and then everything just kind of changed and then it was like Cardi B,” Banks said. “I’m just talking about this caricature of a black woman that black women themselves would never be able to get away with. Like, if my spelling and grammar was that bad, I’d be canceled. If Nicki Minaj spelled like that, we would be ragging on her all day.”

Before deactivating her Instagram, Cardi fired back at Banks with this message, according to People: 

“You think because someone uses a lot of big words and long sentences, that makes them smart!? How smart are you if you don’t know that the meaning of illiterate means to not know how to read or write? I can do both, and speak two languages fluently,” she said. “Just because I mix a few words up, forget to use commas or misspell a few words doesn’t make me illiterate and doesn’t make me stupid. And because I laugh a little harder or talk a little louder doesn’t make me a caricature!”

But this is not a new conversation. A few months ago The Grio examined this very issue and defended women like Cardi who don't aways speak the King's standard english.  

What these people don’t realize is that their knee jerk response to chastise Cardi B, Tiffany Haddish and other women who represent the “hood” contingent speaks more to their own internal dialogue than the people they’re rolling their eyes at.

I say this with the utmost respect but – ya’ll really need to stop being a slave to respectability politics or you’re gonna get left behind.