Iggy Azalea
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Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea (), is an Australian rapper. At the age of 16, Azalea moved from Australia to the United States in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognition after releasing the music videos for her songs " Pussy" and "Two Times" on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, both of which gained rapid popularity. Azalea shortly after released her debut mixtape, ''
Ignorant Art ''Ignorant Art'' is the debut mixtape by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, who released it as a free Music download, digital download on 27 September 2011, and is widely recognized as the work that launched her music career. The mixtape includes Hip ...
'' (2011), and subsequently signed a recording contract with American rapper T.I.'s
Grand Hustle Grand Hustle Records (formerly Grand Hustle Entertainment), also known as Hustle Gang Music, is an Atlanta, Georgia-based hip hop record label, founded in 2003, by American rapper T.I. and his manager Jason Geter. Up until December 2012, the lab ...
label. Azalea's debut studio album, ''
The New Classic ''The New Classic'' is the debut studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released on 21 April 2014 by Def Jam Recordings. Primarily a hip hop album, ''The New Classic'' features elements of EDM, dance-pop and trap in its produc ...
'' (2014), peaked among the top five on several charts worldwide, but received mixed reviews from within the industry. The album eventually topped the ''Billboard'' Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, making Azalea the first non-American female rapper to reach the top of the chart. ''The New Classic'' was preceded by Azalea's debut single "
Work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal t ...
" and chart-topping single "
Fancy Fancy may refer to: Places * Fancy, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a settlement * Fancy River, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Music Albums * ''Fancy'' (Bobbie Gentry album), 1970 * ''Fancy'' (Idiot Flesh album), 1997 * ''Fancy'' (video ...
" (featuring
Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...
), which hit the U.S. '' Billboard''
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
. Azalea was featured on
Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...
's 2014 single " Problem", which peaked at number two behind "Fancy". With these hits, Azalea became the second musical act (behind
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
) act to rank at number one and two simultaneously on the Hot 100 with their debut appearances on the chart. In addition, she achieved three top ten hits simultaneously on the Hot 100 with the aforementioned songs and the album's fifth single, " Black Widow" (featuring
Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut stud ...
), which debuted later that year. After her debut album, Azalea released a slew of singles to build anticipation for her intended second album, ''Digital Distortion.'' However, a series of conflicts with her label, as well as personal conflicts, resulted in the project being cancelled. Consequently, Azalea switched labels, releasing the EP ''
Survive the Summer ''Survive the Summer'' is the fourth extended play by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released on 3 August 2018 by Island Records. Work began in mid-2017. Survive the Summer contains production by Bedrock, Ronny J, GT and Wallis Lane. Sh ...
'' (2018) under Island Records. Further disagreements led to Azalea becoming an independent artist and creating her own label, Bad Dreams, through a distribution deal with
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
. Her second album, ''
In My Defense ''In My Defense'' is the second studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released independently on 19 July 2019, by Azalea’s label Bad Dreams Records and Empire Distribution serving as the follow-up to ''The New Classic'' (2014). ...
'', was released in 2019, followed by another EP, ''
Wicked Lips ''Wicked Lips'' is the fifth extended play by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, released on 2 December 2019 through Bad Dreams Records and Empire. Although it was initially announced to be a reissue of Azalea's second studio album '' In My Defense'', ...
'', that same year, and a third studio album, ''
The End of an Era ''The End of an Era'' is the third studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released independently on 13 August 2021 through Azalea's label Bad Dreams Records and Empire Distribution, with the deluxe edition following on 17 Septemb ...
'', in 2021. Azalea's accolades include two
American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Pro ...
, three Billboard Music Awards, an
MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...
, a
People's Choice Award The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...
, four
Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United ...
and four
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
nominations. Azalea's official YouTube channel has accumulated 3.4 billion views, with 15 music videos receiving over 100 million views on
Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...
.


Early life and education

Amethyst Amelia Kelly was born in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and grew up in
Mullumbimby, New South Wales Mullumbimby is an Australian town in the Byron Shire in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. It promotes itself as "The Biggest Little Town in Australia". The town lies at the foot of Mount Chincogan in the Brunswick Valley about 9 k ...
. Her father, Brendan Kelly, was an
Irish-Australian Irish Australians ( ga, Gael-Astrálaigh) are an ethnic group of Australians, Australian citizens of Irish descent, which include immigrants from and descendants whose ancestry originates from the Ireland, island of Ireland. Irish Australians ...
painter and
comic artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...
, while her mother, Tanya, cleaned holiday houses and hotels. Azalea lived in a house that her father built by hand from mud-bricks, surrounded by of land. She has two siblings named Mathias and Emerald Kelly. According to Azalea, she has some Aboriginal (Indigenous Australian) ancestry: "My family came to Australia on the
First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...
. My family's been in that country for a long time, over 100 years. If your family's lived in Australia for a long time, everyone has a little bit of boriginal blood I know my family does because we have an eye condition that only Aboriginal people have." Azalea has also said that her father "made her look at rtas a teenager", which has always influenced her life and work. She began rapping at age 14. Before embarking on a solo career, Azalea formed a group with two other girls from her neighborhood: "I was like, I could be the rapper. This could be like
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...
. I'll be
Left Eye Lisa Nicole Lopes (May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002), better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper and singer. She was a member of the R&B girl group TLC, alongside Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Besid ...
." Azalea eventually decided to disband the group because the other girls were not taking it seriously: "I take everything I do serious ic I'm too competitive." In pursuit of her desire to move to America, Azalea dropped out of high school. She worked and saved the money she earned by cleaning hotel rooms and
holiday house A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottage ...
s with her mother. She claims to have hated school, which, apart from art class, only made her miserable. She also said she had no friends and was teased for her homemade outfits. Azalea traveled to the United States in 2006, shortly before she turned 16. She told her parents she was going "on a holiday" with a friend, but eventually decided to stay and shortly afterward told them she was not coming back home: "I was drawn to America because I felt like an outsider in my own country, I was in love with hip hop, and America is the birthplace of that, so I figured the closer I was to the music, the happier I'd be. I was right." She recalled, "My mum was crying, saying, 'Just be safe.' I was thinking, 'I'm going by myself. I'm fucking crazy!'." After she arrived in the US, she received her
General Educational Development The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...
(GED), and resided in the country on a visa waiver for six years, returning to Australia every three months to renew it. Azalea worked in the US illegally until February 2013 when she was granted a five-year
O visa An O visa is a classification of non-immigrant temporary worker visa granted by the United States to an alien "who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extra ...
. She chose the name Iggy after her
dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
. In 2018, Azalea was approved as a permanent U.S. resident.


Career


2006–2012: Career beginnings, ''Glory'', and ''Ignorant Art''

When she first arrived in the United States in 2006, she stayed in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, and afterward lived briefly in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. Azalea settled for a few years in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, working with a member of the rap collective
Dungeon Family The Dungeon Family is a musical collective, based in Atlanta, Georgia that specializes in Southern hip hop with heavy funk and soul influences. The group derives its name from "The Dungeon", the name given to record producer Rico Wade's studio, ...
named Backbone. During that period, she met future collaborators FKi and
Natalie Sims Natalie Lauren Sims (born June 25, 1984), also known by her stage name Natalie Lauren and former stage name Suzy Rock, is a musician, songwriter, graphic designer and visual artist, writer, and music executive from Tulsa, Oklahoma. As a solo ar ...
. She said people would laugh at her because "they thought my raps sucked", but having grown up getting laughed at, she was able to shrug it off. Meanwhile, she had met someone from
Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...
who encouraged her move to
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
during the summer of 2010. Interscope would eventually go on to manage her for a brief period of time. It was during this time that she adopted her stage name, which she created from the name of her childhood dog, Iggy, and the street she grew up on, Azalea Street, where her family lives to this day. She also started making
stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
animated videos with freestyle rap because she felt like she had found her sound. On 27 September 2011, Azalea released her first full-length project, a
mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...
titled ''
Ignorant Art ''Ignorant Art'' is the debut mixtape by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, who released it as a free Music download, digital download on 27 September 2011, and is widely recognized as the work that launched her music career. The mixtape includes Hip ...
'', saying she made it "with the intent to make people question and redefine old ideals." Her song " Pussy" was included on the mixtape, alongside
guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...
s from YG, Joe Moses, Chevy Jones, and Problem. In November 2011, she released a music video for her song "My World", directed by Alex/2tone. The video features a
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
from character actor and former wrestler
Tiny Lister Tommy Deebo "Tiny" Lister Jr. (born Thomas Duane Lister Jr.; June 24, 1958 – December 10, 2020) was an American character actor and occasional professional wrestler known for his roles as the neighborhood bully Deebo in the 1995 film ''Friday' ...
, which earned her more attention due to its rising popularity online. "It's supposed to have like, all the ridiculousness of a big-budget '90s video, but then chopped and screwed", said Azalea, of the video. In December 2011, Azalea revealed she would release her debut
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
, ''
The New Classic ''The New Classic'' is the debut studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released on 21 April 2014 by Def Jam Recordings. Primarily a hip hop album, ''The New Classic'' features elements of EDM, dance-pop and trap in its produc ...
'', as soon as she signed a major
record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
deal: "Once that's sorted out and I establish an overall sound and direction for the album, I will be able to know what artists would make for a dynamic collaboration."Exclusive Iggy Azalea Interview , We Are Your Friends
. Yourfriendshouse.com (9 December 2011). Retrieved 22 November 2012.
On 11 January 2012, Azalea released the music video for "The Last Song", her third video from ''Ignorant Art''. In an interview with '' Billboard'', released on 27 January, Azalea hinted at an
Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...
signing, while also revealing hopes of releasing ''The New Classic'' in June, and for her debut single to precede it in March.Exclusive: Iggy Azalea Talks Interscope Deal, Jimmy Iovine & More – The Juice
Billboard (27 January 2012). Retrieved 22 November 2012.
Azalea reached out to rapper T.I., for the direction of her debut album. T.I. was set to executive produce ''The New Classic'', soon after a phone call the two had. At the time, Azalea was eyeing a summer release for ''The New Classic'': "Hopefully if all goes to plan, my album will be out in June and I'll have it recorded by the end of the month." However, after Interscope did not allow T.I. to be an ongoing part of her deal, Azalea opted not to sign with the major label and stay independently signed to
Grand Hustle Records Grand Hustle Records (formerly Grand Hustle Entertainment), also known as Hustle Gang Music, is an Atlanta, Georgia-based hip hop record label, founded in 2003, by American rapper T.I. and his manager Jason Geter. Up until December 2012, the lab ...
, until the release of her first album, which had then been postponed. In early 2012, Azalea was featured on the cover of '' XXL'', as part of its annual " Top 10 Freshman List", along with fellow up-and-coming rappers French Montana,
Machine Gun Kelly George Kelly Barnes (July 18, 1895 – July 18, 1954), better known by his pseudonym "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, active during the Prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thom ...
,
Danny Brown Daniel Dewan Sewell (born March 16, 1981), better known by his stage name Danny Brown, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He has been described by MTV as "one of rap's most unique figures in recent memory". In 2010, after amassing ...
,
Hopsin Marcus Jamal Hopson (born July 18, 1985), known professionally as Hopsin, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Los Angeles. In 2007, he was signed to Ruthless Records, and had founded his own record label, Funk Volume, i ...
, and
Roscoe Dash Jeffery Lee Johnson Jr. (born April 2, 1990), better known by his stage name Roscoe Dash, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his debut single " All the Way Turnt Up" (featuring Soulja Boy), which peaked at number ...
. On 1 March 2012, T.I. announced he signed Azalea to Grand Hustle Records, along with rappers
Chip Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific genom ...
and
Trae tha Truth Frazier Othel Thompson III (born July 3, 1980), better known by his stage name Trae tha Truth (or simply Trae), is an American rapper and record executive from Houston, Texas. Embarking on a musical career in 1998, he soon established himself ...
. On 26 March 2012, Azalea posted "Murda Bizness", the intended
lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...
for ''The New Classic'', on her YouTube account. The song was produced by
Bei Maejor Brandon Michael Green (born July 23, 1988), better known by his stage name Maejor (formerly Bei Maejor and later Maejor Ali), is an American record producer, singer, and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. Green has written and produced songs f ...
and features a verse from her Grand Hustle label-boss T.I. In April 2012, via her Twitter feed, Azalea announced plans to release an
extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.
(EP) entitled '' Glory'', later in May: "I'm just onto something right now, the last two weeks and it's glory. Azaleans need something new." Also in April, Azalea starred alongside Grammy-nominated producer Diplo and FKi in the world's first fully interactive shoppable music video for Canadian fashion retailer, SSENSE. In May 2012, it was confirmed by T.I. on
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
's HipHopPov that Azalea had not yet secured distribution for her deal with Grand Hustle Records, and was described by T.I. as a "free agent". It was later revealed in the interview that she was in negotiation with labels other than Interscope, possibly
Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...
(wherein Bu Thiam, whom of which originally placed a bid to sign her is VP of A&R). Azalea was also featured on Steve Aoki and Angger Dimas' collaborative electronic track "
Beat Down Beat Down is a song by music producers Steve Aoki and Angger Dimas, featuring vocals from Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. The song was included on the re-release of Aoki's debut studio album, entitled '' Wonderland (Remixed)'', which was release ...
", which was released on 31 May 2012. On 24 June 2012, Azalea released "Millionaire Misfits", the second offering from her EP ''Glory''; the first being "Murda Bizness". On 21 July, the official music video for "Murda Bizness" was released online. ''Glory'', although not released in May, as it was originally scheduled, was released 30 July 2012. Azalea was also one of the acts on
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
's 2012 Closer to My Dreams Tour, along with
Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...
and
Kirko Bangz Kirk Jerel Randle (born August 20, 1989), better known by his stage name Kirko Bangz, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He is best known for his single, " Drank in My Cup" which was released in 2011 and peaked at number 28 on the US ' ...
. On 28 September 2012, Azalea announced she would be releasing her second mixtape on 11 October 2012. Titling it '' TrapGold'', the mixtape was produced entirely by Diplo and FKi. She later premiered teaser visuals for the track "Bac 2 Tha Future (My Time)", On 9 October 2012, Azalea made her US national television debut, appearing alongside T.I.,
B.o.B Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years late ...
and other Grand Hustle artists in a cypher at the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards. Later that month, she embarked on yet another North American mini-concert tour with
Roc Nation Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, mana ...
singer-songwriter
Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut stud ...
, on her
Ora Tour The Ora Tour was the first concert tour by British singer Rita Ora, in support of her debut studio album, ''Ora (Rita Ora album), Ora'' (2012). The mini-concert tour started on 23 October 2012 in the Yost Theater in Santa Ana, California, Santa An ...
. Azalea then headlined a tour in Europe to support ''TrapGold''. On 16 December 2012, Azalea performed live alongside
Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter. Bedingfield released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed intern ...
and Bootsy Collins, covering Deee-Lite's 1990 hit disco song "Groove Is in the Heart", on the annual television series ''VH1 Divas''.


2013–2014: Breakthrough and ''The New Classic''

In January and February 2013, Azalea worked on tour while still working on her upcoming Single (music), singles and summer release of ''The New Classic.'' She was the opening act for
Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut stud ...
's Ora (Rita Ora album)#Radioactive Tour, Radioactive Tour, in the United Kingdom. As part of her set for Ora's Radioactive Tour, Azalea premiered her commercial debut Single (music), single "
Work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal t ...
", which also serves as the lead single for her debut album. The single premiered on BBC Radio 1Xtra on 11 February 2013. On 13 February 2013, it was announced Azalea had signed a record deal with Mercury Records. The music video for her debut single "Work", was directed by Jonas & François and released 13 March 2013. In March 2013, Azalea also joined renowned rapper Nas, on the European leg of his Life Is Good Tour. On 15 April 2013,
Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...
announced Azalea as its second LIFT artist of 2013 and that she would film live festival performances, fashion and style pieces and behind-the-scenes interviews as part of the eight-week-long campaign. It was also revealed that the music video for her second single, "Bounce (Iggy Azalea song), Bounce", would premiere on Vevo at the end of the month. On 16 March 2013, it was announced that Azalea would perform in the benefit concert "Chime for Change", scheduled to take place on 1 June in London, alongside Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez and others. On 23 April 2013, Azalea announced that she had signed a solo record deal with Island Def Jam. On 26 April 2013, "Bounce" premiered on BBC Radio 1. She also noted that the third international single taken from her debut album would be entitled "Change Your Life (Iggy Azalea song), Change Your Life" and feature a verse from T.I. Azalea also confirmed that she was not signed to
Grand Hustle Records Grand Hustle Records (formerly Grand Hustle Entertainment), also known as Hustle Gang Music, is an Atlanta, Georgia-based hip hop record label, founded in 2003, by American rapper T.I. and his manager Jason Geter. Up until December 2012, the lab ...
; however, heavily affiliated with the label. On 25 May 2013, Azalea performed an acclaimed carnival themed set on the ''In New Music We Trust'' stage as part of Radio 1's Big Weekend in Derry, Northern Ireland. The setlist contained songs from previous EPs and album material such as "Bounce" and "Work". The show was the start of a short set of UK pre-album promotional appearances. In June 2013, Azalea confirmed that the album was nearly finished and that the release was expected in September 2013. On 29 July 2013, Azalea revealed she will be opening for Beyoncé on the 17-date Australia leg of her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in October and November. The third single from ''The New Classic'', titled "Change Your Life (Iggy Azalea song), Change Your Life", was premiered by BBC Radio 1Xtra's MistaJam, on 19 August 2013. On 3 October 2013, Azalea made her first appearance on BET's ''106 & Park'', where she was interviewed and performed "Change Your Life", alongside T.I. Azalea's debut album was slated for an October 2013 release, but in an interview with Australia's ''Herald Sun'' she revealed that due to other commitments such as supporting Beyoncé on her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, her record label would not allow her to release ''The New Classic'' until March 2014. She said: "The official date? Fucked if I know! It's done, it's so depressing to say this but it's the beginning of March, it's so far away but I just have to accept that." She explained the reasons behind the delay: "It was supposed to be October but obviously I'm going on tour with Beyoncé and they said I'm not allowed to put an album out while I'm on tour because I'll be trapped in Australia and I won't be able to do any TV appearances and I thought that's fair enough, that's three weeks and then they said 'You can't put an album out around Christmas time, that's a bad time' and I said 'What about January?' 'Well nobody gets back off holidays and then it's the BRIT Awards, you can't release an album, it's terrible for marketing' which brings me to February." On 10 November 2013, Azalea performed "Blurred Lines" with Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards. On 5 December 2013, an unfinished song by Azalea titled "Leave It", allegedly produced by DJ Mustard, was leaked. Azalea later revealed the song was in fact produced by The Invisible Men and The Arcade (producers), The Arcade, whom she collaborated with on the entire album. In February 2014, Azalea announced that she would be releasing a new single titled "
Fancy Fancy may refer to: Places * Fancy, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a settlement * Fancy River, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Music Albums * ''Fancy'' (Bobbie Gentry album), 1970 * ''Fancy'' (Idiot Flesh album), 1997 * ''Fancy'' (video ...
", featuring English singer-songwriter
Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...
. The song was premiered on BBC Radio 1 Xtra at 7 pm GMT on 6 February 2014. After the song's premiere, it was revealed "Fancy" was the song that had leaked titled "Leave It". On 17 February 2014, the song was serviced to urban contemporary radio in the United Kingdom as the album's fourth single. The music video for "Fancy", inspired by the 1995 American comedy film ''Clueless (film), Clueless'' was released on 4 March. "Fancy" went on to become Azalea's most successful single to date, becoming her first single to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also reached number-one on '' Billboards Hot Rap Songs chart, as well as number-one the US Dance Club Play chart. After much delay and speculation, ''
The New Classic ''The New Classic'' is the debut studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released on 21 April 2014 by Def Jam Recordings. Primarily a hip hop album, ''The New Classic'' features elements of EDM, dance-pop and trap in its produc ...
'' was finally released on 21 April 2014. Upon its release, the album debuted at number-three on the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 52,000 copies in the United States. ''The New Classic'' was the highest-charting female rap album since Nicki Minaj's ''Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'' (2012). ''The New Classic'' also attained the highest number for a female rapper's debut album since Minaj's ''Pink Friday'' (2010), which had entered at number-two with 375,000 copies sold. Azalea was then featured on American singer
Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...
's single " Problem", which was released on 28 April 2014. The song was released as the lead single from Grande's second studio album. Shortly after, Azalea also appeared on Jennifer Lopez's single "Booty (Jennifer Lopez song), Booty". On 28 May 2014, ''The New Classic''s fourth single "Fancy", reached number-one on the US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, with Azalea being the fourth solo female rapper ever to top the Hot 100. On the same day, "Problem" rose to number-two on the Hot 100, with Azalea becoming the only artist since the Beatles, to rank at numbers one and two simultaneously, with their first two respective Hot 100 entries. "Fancy" also topped the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart. On 24 June 2014, Azalea's song " Black Widow", featuring Rita Ora, was serviced to rhythmic contemporary radio, as her debut album's fifth single in the US. It eventually peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. A reissue of ''The New Classic'', titled ''Reclassified'', was released in November 2014; featuring five new songs, including new singles "Beg for It (song), Beg for It" and "Trouble (Iggy Azalea song), Trouble". On 10 December 2014, when reflecting on the year she'd had and the struggles she faced in the years before, Azalea announced plans of an arena tour for 2015 and a second studio album via her Twitter account. The same day, she revealed the title of the tour, The Great Escape Tour, and the concept behind it, which is Azalea picturing herself as "a musical escape artist for people". Azalea also stated that the name of the tour went along with the title of her upcoming second studio album, which would also be promoted on the tour.


2015–2018: Career setbacks and ''Survive the Summer''

Azalea declared she had started to work on her second studio album in January 2015. On 4 May 2015, she released a duet with Britney Spears titled "Pretty Girls (Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea song), Pretty Girls". On 29 May 2015, it was reported that The Great Escape Tour had been canceled and there would be a new tour planned around Azalea's new album to be released in 2016. Azalea later clarified she "had a different creative change of heart" and would also be taking a break to figure out the progression she wanted for her sound and visuals. In June, when asked details on her new music, she explained she had scrapped six months of work to start from scratch. On 30 August, Azalea performed "Cool for the Summer" with Demi Lovato at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, after a collaboration between the two was announced for Lovato's fifth studio album, ''Confident (album), Confident'' (2015). In October 2015, Azalea revealed the initial title of her second album to be ''Digital Distortion''. A buzz track off the album, "Azillion", was made available for free streaming on SoundCloud on 9 January 2016. The project's lead single, "Team (Iggy Azalea song), Team", was released on 18 March 2016 along with a dance video. An accompanying music video premiered on 31 March. In March 2016, Azalea revealed she had started a production company, having "bought the rights to a couple of books that I really like, and also some television shows from Australia that I really believed in and was a fan of when I was a kid, and I had some ideas to rework [them]." In July 2016, she announced that her company, Azalea Street Productions, had signed a deal to create original content for NBCUniversal. In February 2017, it was announced the company optioned the book ''Bad Girls Gone'' for a film that Azalea would produce but nothing materialized. On 12 June 2016, Seven Network revealed that Azalea had signed on to be a judge replacing Chris Isaak on ''The X Factor (Australian TV series), The X Factor Australia'' for its The X Factor (Australia season 8), eighth season, broadcast from October to November 2016. In September 2016, Azalea explained she was delaying the release of her album to 2017, despite it initially being set for July 2016, after ending the relationship with her fiancé Nick Young (basketball), Nick Young, stating: "[I] just needed to have some me time to get my life in order and process the changes that are happening in my private life." She also mentioned wanting to record new songs that reflected her mindset: "when I wrote [my album] I was about to get married ... I don't want to go and promote my album and get asked about my relationship that has just crumbled." Azalea released two singles, "Mo Bounce" and "Switch (Iggy Azalea song), Switch", on 24 March 2017 and 19 May 2017 respectively. The latter track features Brazilian singer Anitta (singer), Anitta. Azalea promoted "Switch" through a performance on the 2017 iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards. On 7 November 2017, Azalea stated that she was not allowed to release music until January 2018, as she signed with a new label. She additionally announced the new title of her second album, ''Surviving the Summer'', and released four new tracks for free download via WeTransfer. The media has dubbed the songs as a four-track mixtape or EP called ''4 My Ratz''. In January 2018, Azalea announced the title of the lead single from ''Surviving the Summer'', "Savior (Iggy Azalea song), Savior" featuring Quavo, which was released on 2 February 2018. On 8 June 2018, the rapper revealed that ''
Survive the Summer ''Survive the Summer'' is the fourth extended play by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released on 3 August 2018 by Island Records. Work began in mid-2017. Survive the Summer contains production by Bedrock, Ronny J, GT and Wallis Lane. Sh ...
'' would be an EP. She also stated that the reason behind the postponed release date—originally for 2 June, then 30 June release—was the change of president of her record label, Island Records. On 5 July, Azalea released two tracks from the EP: "Tokyo Snow Trip" and "Kream (song), Kream", the latter featuring
Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...
. ''Survive the Summer'' was released on 3 August 2018, and debuted at number 144 on the ''Billboard'' 200. On 3 November 2018, Azalea tweeted that she had left Island Records, which she had signed to in 2017, and established her own record label, which was then named New Classic Records. Two weeks later, she announced she had signed a $2.7 million dollar distribution deal with an unidentified company. She stated that she would be an independent artist, be able to sign other artists, and own all her masters, with the exception of her music licensed under Universal Music Group, Universal. On 20 November 2018, it was announced that she had signed a partnership deal with Empire Distribution. She would later rename her record label Bad Dreams in January 2019.


2019: ''In My Defense'' and ''Wicked Lips''

Azalea announced in early February 2019 that she had completed work on her second studio album, ''
In My Defense ''In My Defense'' is the second studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released independently on 19 July 2019, by Azalea’s label Bad Dreams Records and Empire Distribution serving as the follow-up to ''The New Classic'' (2014). ...
''. She further stated her plans to release it in the spring of that year. On 27 February, Azalea announced that "Sally Walker (song), Sally Walker" would be the first single off of the album. On the same day, her previous single, "Kream", was certified gold for selling 500,000 copies in the US. At the end of March 2019, 14 days after Azalea's new single was released, "Sally Walker" had accumulated over 38 million views on YouTube had a combined total sales of over 82,000 copies sold on all platforms and had debuted on ''Billboard''s Hot 100 Chart at number 62, making it the highest-charting single from Azalea on the ''Billboard'' charts since "Team" released in 2016, which had charted at number 42. Azalea promoted the song with a performance on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' during his Las Vegas shows. On 3 May 2019, Azalea released the album's official second single, "Started (song), Started", along with its official music video. Shortly afterward, a collaboration with VVAVES titled "Boys Like You" was released. On 24 June 2019, Azalea announced via Twitter that her album ''In My Defense'' would be released on 19 July 2019. Pre-orders for the album began on 28 June 2019. Azalea appeared on the cover of ''Cosmopolitan'' in August. On 27 September 2019, Azalea announced she would be releasing a new extended play. In an interview with ''Entertainment Weekly'', Azalea stated she was not sure if she would tour to promote the record but that she plans to begin recording new material in September, with hopes of putting it out next year. She later announced on her Twitter that she planned on releasing a new extended play on 15 November 2019 entitled ''
Wicked Lips ''Wicked Lips'' is the fifth extended play by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, released on 2 December 2019 through Bad Dreams Records and Empire. Although it was initially announced to be a reissue of Azalea's second studio album '' In My Defense'', ...
'' following the release of its lead single, "Lola (Iggy Azalea song), Lola". Following a few minor delays, the EP was released on 2 December. The EP was written primarily by Azalea with Noah Cyrus co-writing "The Girls", which featured Pabllo Vittar.


2020–present: ''The End of an Era''

In the summer of 2020, Azalea announced her third studio album, ''
The End of an Era ''The End of an Era'' is the third studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released independently on 13 August 2021 through Azalea's label Bad Dreams Records and Empire Distribution, with the deluxe edition following on 17 Septemb ...
''. On 20 August 2020, Azalea released the original lead single, "Dance Like Nobody's Watching (song), Dance Like Nobody's Watching", a collaboration with Tinashe. Following its underperformance, Azalea scrapped the song from ''The End of an Era'' and released the album's new lead single "Sip It (song), Sip It" with
Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...
in April 2021. In June 2021, Azalea tweeted that ''The End of an Era'' would be released in August of the same year. Later in June, Pitbull (rapper), Pitbull announced his I Feel Good Tour with Azalea as an opening act. On 15 July 2021, Azalea announced that she would take a hiatus from music after the release of ''The End of an Era''. One year later, on 8 August 2022, Azalea announced that she would resume her musical activity.


Artistry


Musical style and influences

Although Azalea is Australian, she raps with a Southern American English, Southern U.S. accent. When she first moved to America, she was involved in the Southern hip hop scene of
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
and later
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, which made it easy for her to cultivate the Southern influence in her music: "I lived in the Southern United States, South for five years; you pick up things from your surroundings and teachers. The people who taught me to rap are all from the South and so was the music I had listened to as a teen." While Azalea's debut extended play, '' Glory'', was intended to focus on Hardcore hip hop, hardcore rap, the EP also touched up on other genres including electronic dance music. Music critics have defined her singles "
Fancy Fancy may refer to: Places * Fancy, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a settlement * Fancy River, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Music Albums * ''Fancy'' (Bobbie Gentry album), 1970 * ''Fancy'' (Idiot Flesh album), 1997 * ''Fancy'' (video ...
" and "Team (Iggy Azalea song), Team" as Electro hop music, electro-hop. At the age of 11, Azalea was infatuated with hip hop when she heard Tupac Shakur's "Baby Don't Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II)": "It was the song that made me fall in love with music and also what sparked my Tupac fascination. That would later make me pick up my own pen and write songs." In her early interviews, Azalea regularly mentioned Shakur's influence: "I was sickly obsessed. I had every picture of Tupac ever printed on my wall." She has credited Beyoncé as an influence and Missy Elliott as the female rapper who she is influenced by and admires the most. Outside of music, her fashion sense is influenced by Grace Kelly, Lil' Kim, Gwen Stefani, Fran Drescher, Eve (rapper), Eve, Trina, Fergie (singer), Fergie, Christina Aguilera, and the Spice Girls, with Azalea stating that Mel B and Victoria Beckham are her favorite Spice Girls.


Music videos

Azalea is often noted for her cinema-quality music videos which are often comedic and contain satire. Azalea has paid homage to a number of cult films from the 1990s and early 2000s in her music videos, among the most notable examples being ''Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' (1997) in "Work" (2013), ''Showgirls'' (1995) in "Change Your Life" (2013), ''Clueless (film), Clueless'' (1995) in "Fancy" (2014), ''Kill Bill'' (2003) in "Black Widow" (2014), ''Earth Girls Are Easy'' (1988) in "Pretty Girls" (2015), and ''Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'' (1997) in "Fuck It Up" (2019), among others. Alongside those film references, eras of cinema are referenced in several other videos including the Bollywood-themed video for "Bounce" (2013) and the 1980s cop comedy-inspired video for "Trouble" (2015). Additionally, the video for "Murda Bizness" (2012) is reminiscent of the pageant culture shown in reality series ''Toddlers & Tiaras''. Azalea has also been credited as a director for some of her music videos and often mentions the importance she attributes to them: "For me, visuals are as important as the music, I just love escapism and giving people something to escape to. To me, that's what art is."


Public image

After initially resisting suggestions to try modeling, Azalea signed with talent agency Wilhelmina Models in 2012. She featured in promotional Advertising, ads for Los Angeles-based lifestyle brand Dim Mak Records, Dim Mak's 2012 fall/winter collection. Also in 2012, Azalea was the face of Levi's "Go Forth" Advertising campaign, campaign. Azalea also appeared in Henry Holland (fashion designer), House of Holland's first eyewear collection campaign. In July 2014, MTV announced that Azalea would be the host of the revived ''House of Style''. Azalea appeared in the seventh installment of ''The Fast and the Furious'' film series, ''Furious 7'', released in 2015. In August 2014, the ''New York Post''s Page Six reported that Azalea had formed a footwear collaboration with Steve Madden. Their shoe collection was unveiled in February 2015. In October 2014, Azalea and her boyfriend Nick Young (basketball), Nick Young were announced as the new faces of Forever 21's 2014 holiday campaign. In April 2015, she signed on to be the 100th-birthday ambassador of Australian underwear and clothing company Bonds (clothing), Bonds. In 2018, Azalea was announced as Monster Cable, Monster Products's new spokesperson and starred in their Super Bowl LII commercial.


Controversy


Accusations of cultural appropriation

In 2012, Azalea caused controversy for her song "D.R.U.G.S", a remix of Kendrick Lamar's "Look Out for Detox", having adapted one of its lyrics to "When the relay starts, I'm a runaway slave / Master", leading her to release a letter online apologizing, stating that it was a "tacky and careless thing to say." According to the British newspaper ''The Guardian'', there have been "accusations of racism against Azalea focused on her... insensitivity to the complexities of race relations and cultural appropriation." ''Salon (website), Salon'' writer Brittney Cooper critiqued Azalea's "Co-option, co-optation and appropriation of sonic Black Southerners, Southern Blackness, particularly the sonic Blackness of Southern Black women." Her use of an African-American English accent has been compared to blackface and part of a "broad, vague area of white people pretending to be black: those who do it culturally, rather than cosmetically" but also conversely as "wilful ignorance". Both supporters and critics of Azalea's rise to fame in the hip hop industry noted that it was important to be inclusive while acknowledging and respecting the role of African-Americans in pioneering hip hop. After being asked to analyze and compare her speaking and rapping voice, linguistics professor David Crystal said Azalea might be doing it unconsciously to accommodate to the American rapping style, adding: "There are hardly any echoes of [Azalea's] original Australian accent in her speaking voice—just the odd word (e.g. "own", "believe") and inflection. She has developed a mixed accent (like so many people have these days) as a result of her traveling around." When asked about the validity to the criticisms leveled against her, Azalea stated: "Do you not like me because I rap with an American accent and I'm not American? Well, that's valid on some level because that's your opinion and I can't change that", continuing, "But I'm not trying to sound black—I just grew up in a country where on TV and in music and film, everyone was American or any Australian person in them put on an American accent. So I never saw it as strange at all." In 2021, after Azalea released the music video for her song "Iam the Stripclub", some Twitter commentators accused her of blackfishing or "imitating a black female aesthetic"; Azalea called the allegations "ridiculous and baseless" and said that she had worn the same Armani foundation for the past three years "in every video since 'Sally Walker (song), Sally Walker'". Her makeup artist Eros J. Gomez took to Twitter to defend and clarify that Azalea was using the same foundation in all the music video scenes.


Comments on racism

In 2018, Azalea claimed that the history of racism in the United States causes its audiences to dismiss her, and claimed that she, "grew up in a situation that didn't involve any white privilege, privilege and I worked really hard", later reiterating on U.S. race relations: "I make Black music, 'black' music. I don't want people to think it's not something I care about. I want to make music for girls in the gym." She stated, "It's important for music to reflect what is going on socially and for there to be those kinds of voices within the industry. But I want to be that person you can listen to for four minutes and not think about that stuff at all, and it's important to have that too [...] I'm not here to offer that commentary, but that doesn't mean I don't care." In 2016, she lamented, "Many people think I still live in that bubble and that I don't understand that the United States is set up in a way that doesn't benefit minorities. I've lived here for 10 years now, and I don't want it to be that way either. I'm marrying a black man and my children will be half black— of course I care about these things." She further dismissed the legitimacy of the racial controversy, citing Misogyny in rap music, sexism as the true cause of criticism. In a feature covering Azalea's career, Clove Hope wrote, "Rather than seeing race as an issue, Iggy focused on the trend of women in rap being over-policed and accused of not writing their own rhymes, while in the process overlooking how artists like herself and Macklemore hold a broader industry advantage, even as they feel like outcasts in their field." In 2016, Azalea was planning to release her second album titled, ''Digital Distortion'', explaining its concept: addressing the criticisms against her: "some of them were fair and some of them, I think, were unfair. I just think it's interesting that we live in this age of digital distortion where we're all distorting each other and distorting ourselves and our perception of who we all are, and none of it is really accurate anymore." She later credited the support she received from fellow rappers as giving her motivation facing the controversial claims in the media: "I grew up loving Missy Elliot, loving Lil' Kim or Trina and so I'm lucky I have those women I really idolized support me. So, I get a little bit confident in that, knowing the people I look up to appreciate what I'm doing."


Personal life

In March 2015, while talking about her body shape with ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', Azalea revealed she had undergone breast augmentation, saying, "I did change something: Four months ago, I got bigger boobs! I'd thought about it my entire life", adding she was sick of having to sew padding into her stage costumes and wanted to be able to wear lingerie without wiring. After initially resolving never to discuss it publicly as she didn't want other girls to feel bad about their bodies, she concluded, "But then, I decided I wasn't into secret-keeping." In August 2015, she talked about having a Rhinoplasty, nose job with Seventeen (American magazine), ''Seventeen'' magazine, adding, "Your perception of yourself can change a lot over time, so I think it's important to wait and make sure it's the right choice. Plastic surgery is an emotional journey. ... There are things that I didn't like about myself that I changed through surgery. There are other things I dislike but I've learned to accept. It's important to remember you can't change everything. You can never be perfect." In March 2018, Azalea was approved for Green card, permanent residence in the United States.


Relationships

In late 2011, Azalea began dating American rapper A$AP Rocky, whom she met through American record producer Chase N. Cashe. She confirmed that they were dating in a January 2012 interview with ''Vibe (magazine), Vibe'' and, around this time, got the title of Rocky's breakout mixtape Live. Love. ASAP, ''Live. Love. A$AP'' tattooed on her fingers. She claimed she and Rocky both had tattoos dedicated to the relationship, but his tattoos were not visible. In July 2012, Rocky stated they were no longer dating, with Azalea later removing her tattoo after years with the word A$AP crossed out. In November 2013, Azalea began a relationship with Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Nick Young (basketball), Nick Young. Azalea and Young were featured in the March 2014 issue of ''Gentlemen's Quarterly, GQ'' magazine. They lived together in Tarzana, Los Angeles, Tarzana, California. On 1 June 2015, they announced their engagement. On 19 June 2016, Azalea announced that she and Young had split after a video leaked on the internet showing Young bragging about cheating on Azalea. In 2016, she briefly dated Moroccan-American rapper French Montana. In late 2018, Azalea began dating American rapper Playboi Carti. The couple reportedly split in December 2019. However, in June 2020, Azalea announced she had given birth to a son, Onyx, with Carti. That October, she released a statement saying, "I'm raising my son alone & I'm not in a relationship." Later in December, Azalea revealed that Carti had cheated on her and missed their son's birth. He later refused to sign their son's birth certificate.


Awards and nominations

Iggy Azalea has been nominated for numerous major music awards. Azalea was the first female and first non-American rapper to be featured on XXL (magazine), ''XXL'''s " Top 10 Freshman List". In 2014, she received two American Music Awards of 2014, American Music Awards in the Rap/Hip-Hop categories, along with four more nominations, and one 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, MTV Video Music Award for her collaboration with Ariana Grande, along with seven more nominations, making her the most nominated artist at these respective award show editions. She has also won three
Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United ...
and one MTV Europe Music Award. Azalea won the ARIA Music Awards of 2014, 2014 ARIA Award for ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Release, Breakthrough Artist and the 41st People's Choice Awards, 2015 People's Choice Award for Favorite Hip-Hop Artist. In November 2014, she was placed at number-one on the ''Maxim (magazine), Maxim'' Hot 100 list in Australia because "few Aussies, female or otherwise, have had a bigger 2014 than Iggy." Azalea also ranked at number 46 on the 2014 edition of the AMID (Australasian Music Industry Directory) Power 50, a list that compiles the most influential figures in the Australasian Music of Australia, music world. Azalea received four nominations at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, including Grammy Award for Best New Artist, Best New Artist, Grammy Award for Record of the Year, Record of the Year and Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Fancy" and Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Album for ''The New Classic''. Azalea joined the list of the 9th Annual ''Billboard'' Women in Music honorees as a chart-topper. In late 2014, it was announced she was placed at number-one on Billboard Year-End, ''Billboard'' Year-End's Top New Artists chart. In 2015, Azalea also led the 2nd iHeartRadio Music Awards, 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards nominations with five. She received twelve nominations at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, 2015 ''Billboard'' Music Awards. In 2016, Azalea was presented with the Woman of the Year award by ''GQ Australia''. In 2020, Iggy Azalea was listed at number 50 in ''Rolling Stone Australia''s "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time" issue.


Discography

* ''
The New Classic ''The New Classic'' is the debut studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released on 21 April 2014 by Def Jam Recordings. Primarily a hip hop album, ''The New Classic'' features elements of EDM, dance-pop and trap in its produc ...
'' (2014) * ''
In My Defense ''In My Defense'' is the second studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released independently on 19 July 2019, by Azalea’s label Bad Dreams Records and Empire Distribution serving as the follow-up to ''The New Classic'' (2014). ...
'' (2019) * ''
The End of an Era ''The End of an Era'' is the third studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released independently on 13 August 2021 through Azalea's label Bad Dreams Records and Empire Distribution, with the deluxe edition following on 17 Septemb ...
'' (2021)


Tours


Headlining

* The New Classic Tour (2014) Cancelled tours * Great Escape Tour (2015) * Bad Girls Tour (2018)


Opening act

* XXL (magazine)#XXL Freshmen, ''XXL'' Freshmen Live Tour (2012) *
Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...
– MTV Jams Presents: Closer to My Dreams Tour (2012) *
Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut stud ...
Ora Tour The Ora Tour was the first concert tour by British singer Rita Ora, in support of her debut studio album, ''Ora (Rita Ora album), Ora'' (2012). The mini-concert tour started on 23 October 2012 in the Yost Theater in Santa Ana, California, Santa An ...
(2012) *
Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut stud ...
– Radioactive Tour (2013) * Nas – Life Is Good Tour (2013) * Beyoncé – The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour (2013) * Pitbull (rapper), Pitbull - I Feel Good Tour (2021) *Pitbull - Can't Stop Us Now Summer Tour (2022)


See also

* List of artists who reached number one in the United States


Notes


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Azalea, Iggy Iggy Azalea, 1990 births Living people 21st-century women rappers ARIA Award winners Australian people of Irish descent Australian people of Indigenous Australian descent Australian expatriates in the United States Australian women rappers Australian hip hop singers Australian songwriters Def Jam Recordings artists Female music video directors Mercury Records artists Music video codirectors NME Awards winners People from the Northern Rivers Pop rappers Rappers from Sydney MTV Europe Music Award winners Rappers from Los Angeles Australian hip hop musicians