Aussie Rapper Takes Stand Against 'Cyber Bully' Azealia Banks, 'Regrets' Opening Her Shows

Melburnian indie-rap upstart Ivan Ooze has come out swinging against his recent show-mate Azealia Banks in the wake of some controversial anti-Australian sentiments she's made public since her performance at this past weekend's "waste of time" Splendour In The Grass festival, pegging her as a "cyber-bully" who simply "craves the bad attention".

Taking to Facebook to vent his frustrations with the Broke With Expensive Taste scribe, Ooze — aka Ben Townsend — conveyed that he was originally "very excited" to get the nod to perform as Banks' support act for her Sydney and Melbourne Splendour sideshows, before calling into question the US performer's assertion that Australian crowds are "terrible".

"From the shows I played with her in Sydney and Melbourne, the vibe was incredible and literally out of this world and I don't think I have ever performed to such energetic and supportive Australian crowds," Ooze wrote. "I went out into the crowds after the shows and I only received thoughtful words and praise of how awesome Azealia's show was."

Ooze goes onto condemn Banks' online tirade against Australian audiences on Twitter over the past few days, during which she's engaged in the odd touch of insensitive language, even going so far as to offer a veiled threat to Brisbane DJ Paul Brown for ostensibly igniting the saga, saying, "This is how Australian men turn up dead".

"The comments Azealia has made on her Twitter, including death threats and homophobic slurs towards Australians, shows that she is just a cyber bully and doesn't deserve to tour this country," Ooze wrote.

"I am super grateful for the chance to play in front of the awesome crowds over the weekend, but I don't support cyber bullying and I now regret supporting Azealia Banks."

He's probably not the only one feeling that way right now. Not that it really matters from Ooze's workload perspective - he'll be keeping well busy for the next little while as a special guest on Seth Sentry's national run. Full details are available in theGuide or on The Music App.

You can read his Facebook post in full below.