Australian rapper
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, both of which gained rapid popularity. Azalea signed a recording contract with American rapper T.I.'s label Grand Hustle shortly afterward and released her debut mixtape, Ignorant Art (2011).
Azalea's debut studio album, The New Classic (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" and chart-topping single "Fancy", which hit the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Azalea was featured on Ariana Grande's single "Problem", which peaked at number two behind "Fancy". With these hits, Azalea joined the ranks of The Beatles as the only act to rank at number one and two simultaneously with their first two Hot 100 entries. 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", 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 (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. Her second album, In My Defense, was released in 2019, followed by another EP, Wicked Lips, that same year. Before taking a hiatus from music, Azalea released her third and final studio album, The End of an Era, in August 2021.
Since her debut, Azalea has sold 70 million records worldwide, with 22 million singles in the United States alone.[citation needed] Azalea's accolades include two American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, an MTV Video Music Award, a People's Choice Award, four Teen Choice Awards and four Grammy Award nominations. Azalea's official YouTube channel has accumulated 3.4 billion views, with 15 music videos receiving over 100 million views on Vevo.
HappinessI always say: 'Share your happiness with the world, give other people that happiness and let it come back,' but some things make me question it. I don't know if I want some people to know that I am happy. I think a lot of people want to take it away from you, and that's really scary.
There's an obligation to not lead people down the wrong path, but I hardly think me wearing short shorts on stage is creating monsters.
A lot of people heard 'Murda Business' and thought it was about killing people, trying to be tough and hardcore. If you actually listen to the lyrics, it's kind of silly and playful.
I felt like everyone was shitting on me, like, "She didn't get that deal with Interscope. She got dropped! She won't get another project!" making it so much worse then any of it really was. I felt like they wanted me to fail and I thought, I'm not going to go anywhere. I'm going to get my glory. I'm going to get my shine.
I think that music is still art, even if it's commercialised.
T.I.'s my mentor; he's a really close friend of mine. I call him my brother like we talk on the phone all the time. He's helped me with my career.
I started rapping since, like, 14. But I've been obsessed with rap from when I was 11. I heard 'Baby Don't Cry,' I'll never forget.
I've never heard a man in a suit tell me what to wear; that's not their forte. You hire your stylist; whatever someone's image is as an artist is what they've chosen to portray.
Whenever my country has something bad happening I feel guilty for not being there. It's weird.
I really like 'Roar' and 'Dark Horse.' 'Dark Horse' I really like, and I feel I would sing that in the bathroom; I would buy that album, and I think Katy Perry's amazing!
We don't really watch basketball in Australia.
I love purple because my name is Amethyst.
I think its funny when people say a female rapper is too sexually charged, maybe the way I do it is a little more in your face but that's because I have to be aggressive and masculine to make it in the industry. If I talk about sex blatantly, when the mainstream media says it metaphorically every day, it's not okay? It's hypocritical.
I'm irrational about all things creative and I'm always late!
As a child, I remember my dad would sometimes drive me into town with him to play pinball machines together. It's a bittersweet memory but also a favorite.
People think I'm more wild than I am... I like going to theme parks, play sports or just hanging out with my friends.
My management team are all women. Most of the people at labels I liaise with are all women. It's pretty much all women all the time.
My family came to Australia on the First Fleet. 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 [Aborigine blood]. I know my family does because we have an eye condition that only Aboriginal people have.
Not every artist is a role model.
I think music talks to you on an emotional level, regardless of where you're from. I guess I related to the tempo of rap, the aggressiveness.
At the very worst, if I have a short-lived career, at least I could say I sparked a change - that I inspired some leniency in what people accept in hip-hop. And if I have a very long career and can be gyrating in a leotard at 35, that would be great.
I love musk oil. There's something about musk that makes it memorable without being overpowering.
Luxury lives in the finer details. It's a cloth napkin at a dinner table. It's a mint on your pillow before bed.
'Iggy' was my dog - he was named after Iggy Pop - and 'Azalea' is the street where I grew up; together, they have the right amount of syllables to make the perfect name.
Being talked about like a package - I feel like that all the time.
Women in music have the bigger balls anyhow we endure much more harassment and critic.
I realize that artists can become fatigued from touring the world over, but if it's your first major tour, you've got to buckle down and do it, said Sami Jarroush, a music blogger for Consequence of Sound. Short of suffering from an actual medical emergency, saying you're going to stop performing so you can take a vacation isn't exactly going to make you look good in the eyes of however many fans you have left.
Music is art to me, and you don't censor art. You don't go into a museum and censor things.
I'd known since about eleven that I wanted to live in America.
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.
I found it to be kind of ironic, because I’m white, therefore I’m appropriating culture, but then Eminem won it - who’s white and won it many times - and they didn’t seem to say anything about that. I suspect it was just because they dislike me.
My real name is Amethyst. It sounds like a stage name. My mom is kind of crazy.
No money, no family, 16 in the middle of Miami.
I naturally want to be provocative.
Once you go great, you never go good..You never go back, even if you could.
Pledge allegiance to the struggle.
Really good things take time to grow. Foundation is not built over night.
There's a difference between being yourself and being your stereotype.
Anyone's happier when they're not being verbally abused all day long.
No one can break me down. I know my worth and its a beautiful thing.
First things first, I'm da realest.