Azealia Banks thinks she's the female Kanye West.

The '212' rapper believes she shares a spiritual connection with the hip-hop star and thinks no one else can even come close to their musical ''genius''.

She told ELLE magazine: ''Kanye is a genius. Kanye and I are like the same person but boy and girl. We're pulling from the same cloud, the same inspiration. We're both Geminis, we're the two premier avant gardists in hip hop music.

''It's just me and him. I think our consciousnesses are swirling around each other in some weird kind of way...''

The controversial artist - who has famously engaged in Twitter spats with Lily Allen and Lady GaGa - is also a fan of eccentric Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, who she calls 'Uncle Karl'.

Azealia said: ''He gave me some cute clothes and an iPad. I was like, 'Uncle Karl!' He's really interesting. And the people around him are really nice.''

The feisty rapper couldn't imagine living anywhere else but New York City because she can blast her music at full volume all night without anyone caring.

She explained: ''I live in Washing Heights where I get a lot of bang for my buck. My dollar goes a long way! I've got a huge four-bedroom apartment for the same price that I would pay to live in a box in SoHo.

''I live in a really thick Hispanic neighbourhood so I can play my music loud because they love their music. There's no knocking on my door telling me to turn my music down.''