Azealia Banks has defended bleaching her skin.

The controversial rapper has previously made headlines for making vile racist remarks against Zayn Malik and also slammed Iggy Azalea after she criticised Beyoncé for supposedly poking fun at 'stereotypical white names'.

And now the outspoken 25-year-old musician has made it clear she doesn't think there is a 'difference' between changing the colour of her skin and having plastic surgery or wearing hair extensions.

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Hitting out: Azealia Banks has defended bleaching her skin in a new Facebook Live video, in which she compares it to a nose job or wearing weaves

Filming herself for a Facebook Live - entitled 'Skin lightening' - she began: 'I don't think it's important to discuss the cultural significance of skin bleaching anymore.

'As a black person in this world you assimilate. There are things you accept. This has become the norm because it's happening all the time.'

She went on to ask: 'What's the difference between getting a nose job and changing your skin colour?'

Speaking out: The controversial rapper has previously made headlines for making vile racist remarks against Zayn Malik and also slammed Iggy Azalea after she criticised Beyoncé for supposedly poking fun at 'stereotypical white names'

'Nobody was upset when I was wearing 30-inch weaves and tearing out my edges and doing all that type of sh*t like that. You guys loved it.'

She also added, during the nearly 20-minute long clip: 'I guess people look at the skin lightning, bleaching thing as something different... as another assimilation thing.

'It's a continuation of the falsification of self with being a black person in America.'

'To say it negates anything I've said about the current situation of blackness in America is ignorant and stupid. What do body modifications have to do with somebody's level of intellect? The two don't correlate.'

Reasoning: The star explained her skin lightening by excusing it as no worse than 'wearing 30-inch weaves'

She added: 'It's a continuation of the falsification of self with being a black person in America'

Shortly after her video was posted online several fans called Azealia a hypocrite considering the comments she'd made about 'cultural appropriation' in the past.

Azealia went on to say how she didn't think it was 'important' to discuss why bleaching your skin is a 'necessity' for African-American people.

The Big Big Beat star had her Twitter account suspended earlier this year, after she launched a vile racist and homophobic rant on former One Direction star Zayn Malik - in which she called him a 'curry scented b***h' - and she admitted she felt 'shoved into a corner and punished' for her actions.

She previously said: 'I feel really sad and uninspired. I'm having trouble mustering up enough smiles and enthusiasm to finish Fantasea 2.

Upset: Shortly after her video was posted online several fans called Azealia a hypocrite considering the comments she'd made about 'cultural appropriation' in the past (left, Azealia pictured in 2014, right, last week)

'I feel deeply misunderstood. I feel cheated, I feel stolen from. I feel though as I've made and am making such huge contributions to the times, as far as music and the national conversation go, only to be shoved into a corner and punished while I watch my ideas and insight get paraphrased and repackaged by everyone.'

Meanwhile, Azealia also previously promised to never use the word 'F****T' again while acknowledging that the hurt she's caused in the past because of it is 'just not worth it.

'I want to SINCERELY apologize to my fans for having let so many of you down over the years,' Azealia wrote.

The rapper from Harlem, New York, has frequently caused a stir with her use of LGBT and racial slurs and up until this point she has defended herself vehemently, often causing more offence.

Controversial: Azealia has previously been banned from using Twitter and is known for her controversial views and rants, and regular use of homophobic slurs

Shocking: Earlier this year, Azealia called former One Direction star Zayn Malik a 'curry scented b***h' in a bizarre racist tirade

However, Azealia indicated that's all in the past, writing: 'Ok, i'm never saying the word F****T ever again. The amount of people that get hurt when i use the word vs. the amount of people i've said it to are just not worth it.'

She went on to explain that 'its just me realizing that words hurt (sic).'

Azealia claimed to understand that not everyone has the thick skin that she has.

'While i may be immune to every word and be thicker skinned than most, it doesn't mean that i get to go around treating people with the same toughness that made my skin so thick...

'Not fair to my fans, not fair to my peers but most importantly, Not fair to myself,' the singer wrote.

'By using those words i paint a picture of myself that isn't the true me. I paint the picture of my upbringings, my neighborhood, my pain, and my misfortunes... I paint the picture of someone who is used to suppressing things, and being defensive. I paint the picture of someone who cannot allow themselves to be vulnerable or at the very least, Happy....'

Azealia insisted that she's also 'sweet, kind, caring, generous,' and that she loves 'to make people laugh.'