Who Is Iggy Azalea?

Three things you need to know about the hottest new Internet sensation: She's from Australia, she looks like a model, and she can rap her ass off.

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Image via Complex Original
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Intro

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Australia

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Growing Up In Australia

Iggy Azalea: “I come from a really small town near the Gold Coast called Mullumbimby. It has a population of 3,000, but when I was there it was probably 1,500. We didn’t have a mall or a movie theater. Lots of the small towns in Australia have Aboriginal names and that’s one of them.

“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 Aborigine people have.


 

My mom and I started cleaning [hotels] together. I didn’t have to go through an agency or a boss that takes a cut out, because I had my own business registered. I was a hired contractor, so I made more money.

 

“Mullumbimby is neighbors with Byron Bay, which is about thirty minutes away. It’s a cool town on the beach. It’s sub-tropical, so people like to swim and shit and it’s a tourist market. All the houses have gotten expensive over there because everyone wants to buy them for tourist rental. So people live in my town and work in Byron Bay.

“When I was a kid saving up to come to America, I used to go there and clean the holiday houses and hotels. You can make good money doing that because the tourist industry is profitable. Everyone, when they’re a young, goes and becomes a cleaner. That’s one of the best jobs you can have out there. There’s not a lot of jobs to choose from.

“My mom used to clean as well, so I got my own insurance and registered my own business. My mom and I started cleaning together. I didn’t have to go through an agency or a boss that takes a cut out, because I had my own business registered. I was a hired contractor, so I made more money. I was able to cut out the middle-man.


 

My dad was a comic artist.

He made me look at [art] as a teenager. He would give me books and he would give me quizzes. He would always tell me, ‘Look at this film,’ or ‘Look at this artist. What do you think he’s trying to say?’

 

“My dad was a comic artist. He doesn’t draw cartoons anymore. Now he lives in the rainforest, does oil paintings, and meditates and shit. But he always made me read books and he’s a lot of the reason why I have so many people around me that I draw stuff from for inspiration.

“He made me look at [art] as a teenager. He would give me books and he would give me quizzes. We were talking the other night at dinner about [the artist] Robert Crumb. He would always tell me, ‘Look at this film,’ or ‘Look at this artist. What do you think he’s trying to say?’ As a kid, I always hated his guts. I would be like, ‘Ugh, Dad is giving me this book. He’s going to make me answer questions about it.’

“I probably connect because I was really reading that shit, I would go to his house, and he would give me shit and I would read it. I love to draw portraits and he would always tell me, ‘Your shadowing is wrong!’ [Laughs.] My dad was kind of like my art coach.”

School

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Hating School

Iggy Azalea: “I hated everyone at school. I would come home at lunch and listen to music. That eventually led to me dropping out because I was missing so much school after sneaking home after lunch and never going back.

“I hated school because my town is so small. If you’re going to a public school like me, the way it’s area-coded, there’s only one school everyone in the area can go to. It’s so small so you know the same kids from when you’re five until you graduate. It’s the same motherfuckers and there’s only about 40 of them.

“I used to dress weird in elementary school and I used to get teased. I hated their guts, they hated mine, and that hate continued into high school. [Laughs.]


 

I used to get my pants pulled down in 5th grade. As soon as I would stand up, someone would pull my pants down.

 

“I used to get my pants pulled down by them in 5th grade. I used to sit down at lunch the whole time, because as soon as I would stand up, someone would pull my pants down. [Laughs.] I’ll never forget one day the girl was bending over the desk at school, and I thought, ‘Now is the chance. I’m going to pull her pants down. I finally have her where I want her.’

“I pulled her pants down thinking everyone was going to think it was so funny, because when I get my pants pulled down, apparently it’s hilarious. But when I pulled her pants down, nobody laughed! I was like, ‘What the fuck? I’ve been getting my shit pulled down forever. She only got her pants pulled down one time!’

“When I started to really like rap music, nobody else liked that. It wasn’t cool, where I come from. Everyone liked rock, indie, and dance music. It wasn’t cool to like rap, so liking what I liked, I didn’t want to be around them.

“That’s why I came home at lunch, to be with the shit that I liked. I was like, ‘You guys look depressing, and I can’t talk to you about anything, because everything I like, you hate.’ The only classes I would go to at school were art classes and English classes. Everything else I would skip because I just hated it so bad.”

Fantasies

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Fantasies of The Rap World

Iggy Azalea: “Sometimes I would not go to school at all. I would be at home writing raps, trying to be a rap star. I thought it was so cool. I would see all the rap videos and watch them on YouTube.

“The rappers had all this shit that we didn’t have. I saw things like fitted caps, Timberlands, and Air Force 1’s and I was like, ‘Whoa! Those are fucking cool. I want one, bad. Where can I get those?'


 

I would go on Dr. Jay’s the website, look at shit, and make up fake shopping carts of the shit I wish I had if I lived in America or if I had the money for it. I was like, ‘I would love to wear Baby Phat!’

 

“I would go on Dr. Jay’s the website, look at shit, and make up fake shopping carts of the shit I wish I had if I lived in America or if I had the money for it. I was like, ‘I would love to wear Baby Phat!’ [Laughs.] You just couldn’t get that shit in Australia.

“If you wanted to get a XXL or VIBE, you had to go to the news agents and put in a special order for it. It would come four months late but I didn’t give a fuck! I read it like, ‘Who’s that artist?’ then I’d go to the Internet and find out.

“I’d take out the ads and put them on your door like, ‘Man, I wish I had those clothes,’ or ‘I wish I had that watch.’ I was obsessed with this world because I’m from a small town that didn’t have shit. We didn’t have anything to do. It was so easy to go off into your little dream world. That was it for me.

“Australia doesn’t have radio stations that play hip-hop. You had to go on Google or look on Billboard to see what was going on in the America. I would go on Myspace to see what other kids were listening to. I was just manning the Internet trying to find stuff that was cool.”

Her Obsession With 2Pac

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Her Obsession With 2Pac

Iggy Azalea: “I used to love 2Pac. I was obsessed with him. When I was 13, I heard ‘Baby Don’t Cry’ by 2Pac and The Outlawz at my next-door neighbors’ house. I didn’t really love any music until then, I just loved what was on the radio. Then I heard that song and I don’t know what it was about it that made me love it so much.


 

I used to think 2Pac was still alive. I remember I used to go on [The Seven Day Theory website]. I was just waiting for 2007. I was like, ‘It’s the seven day theory. He’s going to be alive in eight months!’ It seems stupid now.

 

“I went and got the album and listened to it a billion times. Then I got every other album, every song, every documentary about 2Pac. I got anything to do with 2Pac. I would sit at home all day long and be obsessed with it because I lived in this small town and I had nothing else to do. I would be in this little 2Pac world.

“I used to think 2Pac was still alive. I remember I used to go on [The Seven Day Theory website]. They were like, ‘In his movie Poetic Justice, look at the menu. It’s not an L, it’s a backwards seven, upside down.’ I was like, ‘Whoa! They are! There’s no denying it now.’

“I was just waiting for 2007. I was like, ‘It’s the seven day theory. He’s going to be alive in eight months!’ Obviously, he’s dead but I thought he was alive for a little while. It seems stupid now, but I thought he was alive. I really did.”

Grace Kelly

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Her Obsession With Grace Kelly

“I love her. I'm still obsessed. She's so graceful and she was so fashionable. She was like a regular girl but then she was a princess. When I get married, I want her wedding dress. I thought Prince William and Kate tried to rip off her dress. Jerks. I don't care I'm still going to do it anyway. I used to have a folder of her on my computer with all her outfits and be like, ‘I want this jacket.’


 

[Her depression interested me] because I used to feel super isolated in Australia and I was so depressed.

 

“I honestly didn't even watch her movies, that's not what I liked about her. I like her more as a fashion icon. I think she was graceful and regal. She was so effortless. I used to always read about her life. I liked the way she dressed and I liked her life story, how she got married and became a princess.

“I heard that she was really unhappy. That's the part that interested me, that she was really unhappy that she had to give up her film career because she became a princess so she couldn’t be a professional.

“I heard that she got really unhappy, made pressed flowers, and everyone said she got really depressed. [Her depression interested me] because I used to feel super isolated in Australia and I was so depressed. It resonated with me and I felt like I could identify with that.”

Her Rap Influences

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Her Rap Influences

Iggy Azalea: “I like Andre 3000. I was like, ‘He’s so weird,’ and I feel weird. I like him because he doesn’t dress like regular rappers and he talks about regular shit. He doesn’t talk about cliché rapper subjects.


 

I used to be so obsessed with 2Pac that when he said in a song, ‘Fuck Jay-Z,’ I was like ‘[Gasp.] Fuck Jay-Z. I will not listen to his music.

It's boycotted.'

 

“I used to love Missy Elliott and Eve. I wanted to be Eve. She was cool. That’s probably the four that I really like: 2Pac, Andre 3000, Missy, and Eve.

“I don’t know why someone wrote that [I’m a big Jay-Z fan]. It’s true, but it wasn’t true. I used to be so obsessed with 2Pac that when he said in a song, ‘Fuck Jay-Z,’ I was like ‘[Gasp.] Fuck Jay-Z. I will not listen to his music. It’s boycotted!’ [Laughs.]

“I didn’t listen to Jay-Z growing up as a kid. It wasn’t until I was about 17 when I got over my 2Pac obsession that I started listening to him. I do love him now, but when I first started listening to rap, I didn’t listen to him because 2Pac said, ‘Fuck Jay-Z.’

Learning To Rap

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Learning To Rap

Iggy Azalea: “I was 14 when I started rapping. 2Pac made me want to rap. [Laughs.] Nah, he didn’t make me want to rap, but I was obsessed with it and used to get teased at school. I had this club with my best friend. She was my only friend because she used to get teased too. Eventually, she moved away, which is why ended up being alone again.

“In the club, we would write rude poems about all the other kids. To get in the club, you would have to write a rude poem and we would accept it or we wouldn’t. But we would write the secret poems like, ‘She’s a bitch. I hate her.’ [Laughs.] I kept writing poems privately.


 

I would never tell anyone I rapped because I knew everyone would laugh at me and think I was an idiot.

 

“They were never raps but I was super-obsessed with rap. I would listen, press pause, write the lyrics in a book, and say them back. I would be like, ‘Oh, I killed it. I’m like really the best rapper. I know I can do this shit.’ But I would never tell anyone because I knew everyone would laugh at me and think I was an idiot.

“One day, in a town close to me, they had this thing called OZ Battle. It’s every year on Australia Day, they have big breakdance battles, emcee battles, and stuff. I saw the flyer and I was like, ‘I’m going to go in a rap battle.’

“I caught the bus out there to this rap battle and I lost. I sucked and I got booed. It was the worst. I don’t know why I liked it so much but I was like, ‘This is what I want to do.’ I kept rapping and I kept sucking and I kept getting booed. But I kept going around to festivals.


 

I don’t know why I liked rapping so much, but I was like, ‘This is what I want to do.’ I kept rapping and I kept sucking and I kept getting booed.

 

“I started going to Sydney, because grandma lives there, and went to competitions. I would meet people that liked the same stuff as me. I was like, ‘I want to be a rapper.’ That’s how I started it. From the start I thought I was a professional, even though I wasn’t.

“The first two months of me rapping, I went on the Internet to all the labels in Australia and was like, ‘I’m going to get the addresses and make a demo and send it. I will get a deal.’ I was like, ‘If I don’t get a deal in a year, I’m going to quit rapping. I know I can do this shit in a year.’ I never ended up sending them any demos.

“Now it’s eight years later and I’m still unsigned, but I never gave up because I loved it. I always took it serious and thought I would be the best but I didn’t start recording until about a year later at 15. Living in Australia, I started meeting people that had little set-ups in their houses. Then I went to Miami...”

Moving To Miami

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Moving To Miami

Iggy Azalea: “In February 2006, when I was 16, I moved to the United States by myself. I wasn’t even supposed to move. I planned it that way but no one else really knew. My parents knew I was really unhappy and I told them I wanted to go on a holiday.

“At that time, I would go to Sydney or catch trains to Brisbane, and I would go on open mics. So I had friends in other cities that liked the same shit as me. One of them had family that lived in Miami.


 

I told my parents, ‘Look, I want to go on holiday. I’m depressed and I’m going to go with my friend who has family in Miami. I’m going to go for two weeks.’

 

“I told my parents, ‘Look, I want to go on holiday. I’m depressed and I’m going to go with my friend who has family in Miami. I’m going to go for two weeks.’ My mom didn’t like the idea but I had the money, so she agreed. But she said, ‘If anything happens to you, I will kill you.’ [Laughs.]

“But my friend was never really coming with me. I was always going alone. I did go and see her family because I didn’t know anyone in America. That’s why I chose Miami: That was the only place that I knew someone who knew someone.

“I was there for two weeks when I called home and said, ‘I don’t want to come home yet. I want to stay longer.’ So I stayed another three weeks. I was there for like a month and then I called again and said, ‘I’m not coming back.’

“I got a little apartment with all the money I had been saving [from working in Australia]. I didn’t have shit to spend my money on as a kid since I lived in a town that had nothing [so I had money saved].

“I always had it in my head that I wanted to come to America. My mother said Okay and I stayed. I went back to Australia every three months. I would stay for a week or two, get my visa restamped, and come back over.


 

[The jobs I had in Miami were not] legal ones. Not drugs or anything but gift card shit [scams]. I don’t do that anymore. I haven’t done them for a long time, but that’s what I would do as a kid.

 

“In Miami, I had friends get me jobs under the table, because I can’t work legitimately over here. I eventually left that apartment, I only had it for about six months. I’d be staying with friends, moving around to different cities, trying to rap and find people that would let me record in studios.

“[The jobs I had were not] legal ones. Not drugs or anything but gift card shit [scams]. I don’t do that anymore. I haven’t done them for a long time, but that’s what I would do as a kid.

“It was hard for me [to rap in Miami] because I didn’t know anyone that did music. It’s like, ‘Where do I go? Who do I talk to to do this?’ I didn’t want to do rap battles anymore because I sucked and I kept losing, so I didn’t want to do it.

“While I was out there, I was mainly trying to find enough money to keep going. I was happy that I was in America. I wasn’t really trying to make super moves, because I sucked, so no one was really trying to help me. When I moved to Houston is when I started working with actual producers and more seriously trying to do it.”

Moving To Houston & Atlanta

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Moving To Houston & Atlanta

Iggy Azalea: “After Miami, I moved to Houston and lived there for about nine months. I lived there until Hurricane Ike came. We went away because of the hurricane. When we came back, it was way worse than everybody thought it would be. I had an apartment and it blew all of the windows out of my place and it blew all of our shit into the street. So when I got back I didn’t have anything.


 

In 2009, my friend and I started a hair business called Far East Tress where we sell hair on the Internet. I thought, Let me start this business as a foreign investor at least. Once I employ five people, as a foreign investor, I can get a green card.

 

“At that time, everyone I knew was moving to Atlanta. They were like, ‘The industry is booming in Atlanta, and we don’t have our houses, so that’s where we’re going.’ I was like, ‘Well, that’s where I’m going to then.’ So I moved to Atlanta until August of last year, when I moved to L.A. That’s when I met my best friend and we started our hair business.

“In 2009, my friend and I started a hair business called Far East Tress where we sell hair on the Internet. I don’t want to risk getting deported from where I really want to be over dumb shit like a gift card [scam]. So we started this business. I thought, Let me start this business as a foreign investor at least. Once I employ five people, as a foreign investor, I can get a green card.”

Finding Her Voice In Houston

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Finding Her Voice In Houston

Iggy Azalea: “I used to work with this producer Mr. Lee in Houston. He used to work with Slim Thug, Z-Ro, UGK, and all of the Rap-A-Lot people. I had a Myspace where I used to put some of my music. Mr. Lee found me on Myspace and was like, ‘If you’re ever in Houston, you should come work with me. I think you could be really cool.’

“A bunch of shit ended up happening in Miami, like my place got robbed. I was like, ‘I don’t want to stay here. I’m going to go to Houston for the weekend to work with Mr. Lee.’ I ended up staying in Houston for nine months and never going back to Miami.


 

Mr. Lee used to always say, ‘You rap like you have a knife in your pocket, like you’re really angry. You need to rap like a girl.’

 

“Mr. Lee taught me how to rap like a girl. When I first started working with him, I used to want to rap super hard like I was from Cash Money. I wanted to rap like a boy so bad, probably because I was listening to guys and around guys. But people would not take me seriously.

“When I was in Miami, the shit that they would say was hard shit and it was cool to say. I wanted to say hard shit. Mr. Lee used to always say, ‘You rap like you have a knife in your pocket, like you’re really angry. You need to rap like a girl.’

“Houston is where I started getting good at rapping. I had to have someone tell me, ‘You’re still imitating what you think it’s supposed to be, but it doesn’t have to be that. Just be who you are and sound like a girl.’ [Laughs.] I didn’t want to try it, but I did so they would shut up, and I liked it.”

Moving To Los Angeles

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Moving To Los Angeles

Iggy Azalea: “I moved to L.A. in August 2010. I moved to L.A. because I put this video on YouTube, and these guys from Interscope, Neil Jacobson and George Robertson, found it and called all of my friends because they couldn’t get my number. They would tell my friends, ‘Please, will you tell this girl to call us.’ My friends said, ‘They’ve been calling us for weeks, but we don’t know who they are.’ I said, ‘Probably some scammer.’

“They kept trying to find me for weeks. I eventually called and they flew out from L.A. We had a meeting and they were like, ‘You have to move to L.A.! We want to manage you, but we can’t manage you from Atlanta.’ I was like, ‘Nah. I don’t want to move to L.A.’


 

So there was always a fight with my manager where they would be like, ‘Be more this.’ I would be like, ‘No. I want to be rap. I want to do hip-hop.’ They’d be like, ‘That’s the hard way. Why do you want to do that? It’s not crossover.’

 

“Even though I had never been to L.A., I didn’t want to go to Hollywood. So I didn’t move for like six months. Then things weren’t really moving in Atlanta, i was kind of in a rut, and my lease was up. So I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to move to L.A.’ I’ve been here since. They manage me still and that’s why I’m here.

“When I moved to L.A., my managers thought it would be cool if I was more pop and more crossover. So we had fights for six months. They’d take me around to people that were more pop and say, ‘Try to rap over these beats. This is what’s going to be cool. Try to do it.’ I just couldn’t fucking do it and I don’t like doing it.

“I told them I didn’t like the music and that it wasn’t what I had in mind for myself. So there was always a fight where they would be like, ‘Be more this.’ I would be like, ‘No. I want to be rap. I want to do hip-hop.’ They’d be like, ‘That’s the hard way. Why do you want to do that? It’s not crossover.’

“I understand why they would say that, but I got so sick of it so I was like, ‘I don’t want to work with you guys anymore. Fuck off.’ I didn’t speak to them for about three weeks. They were like, ‘If you want to do it the hard way, fine. We can’t help you.’ I was like, ‘Okay, whatever.’


 

WorldStar emailed me back like, ‘Do you model? Oh, you rap? So you’re trying to go the hard way? We’re not putting your video on. Your video will have to get at least 80,000 views for free, or you can pay me $850. Or we’ll put it on for free if you make it a sexy song.’ I was like, ‘Fuck off.'

 

“That’s when I made ‘Two Times’ and ‘Hell of A Life’ freestyle videos. In my mind, I was like, ‘I’m going to get this on WorldStar and somebody will see it. They’ll put it on WorldStar, right?’

“WorldStar emailed me back like, ‘Do you model? Oh, you rap? So you’re trying to go the hard way? We’re not putting your video on. Your video will have to get at least 80,000 views for free, or you can pay me $850. Or we’ll put it on for free if you make it a sexy song.’

“I was like, ‘Fuck off. People are going to think I’m a fucking WorldStar bunny. I’m not doing that shit. That would defeat the purpose.’ So I messaged them like, ‘Fuck you guys.

“I put my videos on regular YouTube and my old managers saw them. They were like, ‘Whoa. This is cool. We couldn’t understand it before, but now we get it.’ I signed a management deal like two weeks later and we’ve been working together since then.”

Being A White Rapper

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Being A White Rapper

Iggy Azalea: “There have always been a lot of white girl rappers. I know because I am one and I know it's going to come across that there are a billion of them. Somebody said to me once, ‘Why has there never been a white girl rapper?’

“Hip-hop is, one, black culture, and two it’s very male-dominated. The reason that white male rappers can survive and are accepted because they can relate to the masculinity of it all. And the reason that black female rappers can survive is because they can relate to being black. Where can a white female fit in that and relate to it?


 

Hip-hop used to be black culture, now it’s so much more. Hip-hop evolved and so did the people that listened to it, that’s why now we see [more white rappers].

 

“I think that we are at a point where hip-hop has evolved. Now we are at a time where a white girl can put a song out and people will start to say, ‘Oh, maybe this can work.’ But it’s not like we just popped up yesterday.

“When I hear people be like, ‘White people are taking over the rap industry.’ I'm like, ‘Are they really?’ Why, because we have two white girl rappers? Look how many black rappers there are. It's retarded.

“You know why there are more white rappers today? Hip-hop used to be black culture, now it’s so much more. Hip-hop evolved and so did the people that listened to it. That’s why now we see [more white rappers]. It's not what it was 20 years ago so you can’t expect it to be. That's why when I hear people say that, I'm like, ‘You are saying that with this mentality but you are not realizing that we are in 2011 now. Okay?'”

Thoughts On Kreayshawn

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Her Thoughts On Kreayshawn

Iggy Azalea: “Everybody thinks I'm supposed to be the anti-Kreayshawn. I think it’s so stupid. I said to someone the other day, ‘Sonically, just talking about music, when you hear her rap and when you hear me rap, [our styles are different].’

“There are so many other people in hip-hop that you could compare me to or say that I’m similar to. That makes so much more sense than [comparing me to] Kreayshawn. That's not to discredit her. It's just that, we are both white and she came out a few moths ago and now I'm coming out, so it's like we’re the same thing. But we’re not.


 

Sometimes people will be like, ‘You want to be like Kreayshawn.’ I'll be like,

'Do you know how long I’ve been rapping for? I've been rapping for eight years!’

 

“It drives me crazy because it is so small-minded to put color before music. There are so many people out here, even white girls, that want to be rappers. There’s allowed to be more than one person with the same fucking dreams. She’s another girl that raps and she’s successful and she has the same aspirations as me.

“Sometimes people will be like, ‘You want to be like Kreayshawn.’ I'll be like ‘Do you know how long I’ve been rapping for? Ive been rapping for eight years!’ I did not sit here and put a song out and decide that I would fucking rap like it was some shit to do.

“I don’t hate Kreayshawn. I actually met her and she was really nice. It kills me because everybody on Twitter will be like, ‘Iggyy is better than Kreayshawn.’ And I reply back like, ‘Thanks!’ And then I feel like a bitch because I’m not trying to shit on her and she was really nice to me.

“My manager knows her and all her managers and we were walking past Barnes & Noble and she was like, ‘That girl looks like a model.’ And I kind of looked out of the corner of my eye and was like, ‘Oh that’s Kreayshawn.’ My manager was like, ‘We have to go over because I know her.’


 

I don’t hate Kreayshawn.

I actually met her and she was really nice... People expect me to drag her through the mud.

I don’t need to and I don’t

want to do that.

 

“So we went and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m Iggy.’ She was really nice and it makes it hard because I feel like everybody expects me to be shitting on this person who I don’t even know and was really fucking cool when I met them. I’m like, ‘I don’t know what to tell you.’

“People expect me to drag her through the mud. I don’t need to and I don’t want to do that. I think there aren’t enough girls in hip-hop. I want to win and I want to be the best because you are supposed to want to be the best, hip-hop is competitive.

“I want to be the number-one person, but I don’t want to drag people through the mud when I know how hard it is to be a female rapper. I want there to be other people out there. I don’t want to win by default because there is no one else.”

Looking Like A Model

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Looking Like A Model

Iggy Azalea: “I wanted to model. I thought when I got to Atlanta, I thought that if I could get a modeling contract I could be an American. I got approached by this agency called Elite Model Management, which is a pretty big agency. I sent them my photos and they said, ‘Come In. You look good in photos.’

“I went in and they measured me and were like, ‘You’re hips are too big. You have to lose four inches off of your hips and two inches off of your thighs because they’re too big. Lose the weight, come back, and we’ll be interested.’ I was like, ‘I can do it.’ In my mind I was like, ‘I’ll do a lemon detox diet!’ [Laughs.]


 

Apparently, I’m too fat [to be a model]. I’m like, ‘I’m a size two! What the hell?’ So I was like, ‘I can’t do it because I’m going to spend all of my life trying to be skinny and I’d be too distracted to rap.’

 

“But that lasted about three hours. My boyfriend at the time was like, ‘You can do it.’ But I ordered some Papa John’s. I knew it was bad, because I hid it under the bed so he couldn’t see that I had been eating pizzas and I wasn’t on my detox diet. [Laughs.]

“I was like, ‘This isn’t going to work, because it’s not my body shape.’ It would have been like fighting the feeling in an extreme way to be this weight and I don’t want to be that weight. So I was like, ‘I can’t do it because I’m going to spend all of my life trying to be skinny and I’d be too distracted to rap.’ Apparently, I’m too fat. I’m like, ‘I’m a size two! What the hell?’

“I would still get a little bit of cash doing local modeling in Atlanta. I took artist pictures with this photographer Robert Ector. He would sometimes call me and be like, ‘Hey, will you be a model for this person’s portfolio?’ or ‘There’s a makeup artist that needs a portfolio, will you be a model for that?’

“People will be like, ‘You should sing because you just don’t look like you rap.’ And so many people who hadn’t heard my music tried to tell me, ‘You should be a model.’ I'm like, ‘Fuck off. How can you say that? You haven’t even heard my music yet.’ Or people would be like, ‘I didn't expect you to rap like that. I thought you'd be bad.’ Why do you think I'd be bad? Because of what I look like? It's fucking stupid.”

Her Controversial ‘Two Times’ Video

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Her Controversial ‘Two Times’ Video

Iggy Azalea: “I did that because I had already done two videos that were behind a white wall. Every one does the same style of video and it's boring. I didn’t know anyone that would film a music video for free. So I had to film my own, I didn't have a camera so I was like, Well I'll have a webcam for that one. it's gotta be one shot. I knew how to do stop motion animation because my dad [taught me].

“With the ‘Pussy Two Times,’ we would say it as a joke in the studio [in reference to] Gucci Mane’s ‘Two Times.’ It became a joke, we would just say it. Then I was like, 'Fuck it—I'm going to do a song called ‘Pussy Two Times.’


 

I saw the angle and I was like, ‘This looks fucking cool. Maybe I'll stick it on my crotch.’

 

“I got the idea that I would have cats, but I didn’t think to put them on my crotch. I just thought I would have them on my body. But when I tried to stick them on my body, they wouldn't stick it. So I was like, I'm going to have to be sitting. When I sat down to shoot the video in front of the webcam, I was staring at the thing. That's when I saw the angle of my crotch.

“I saw the angle and I was like, ‘This looks fucking cool. Maybe I'll stick it on my crotch.’ It was only supposed to be the cats originally, but then when I looked at that angle I was like, 'I can't move my lips because it's stop motion.'

“Originally, I thought I’d be able to be moving back and forth in the frame because I was standing. I didn’t want any movement, so I was like, ;Let me draw all the things I say.’ I thought if I draw it out, it's funny, and people would be able to comprehend it better. Then I did the whole thing on my crotch.


 

I showed it to my mom, I was like this is the test: If my mom thinks it's cool, I'll put it up, if she doesn’t, then I won't. She was like, ‘It's cool.’ So I put it up.

 

“I was scared to put it out because I was like, ‘Will people get this? Or think I'm being super sexual or I love my vagina this much that I have to put this thing on it?’ I showed it to my mom. I was like this is the test: If my mom thinks it's cool, I'll put it up. If she doesn’t, then I won't. She was like, ‘It's cool.’ So I put it up.

“The video got flagged so you have to be over 18 see it. When that happened, my dad sent me an email and was like, 'I saw your video got marked as inappropriate. That's awesome.' He was telling me, like, ‘When I was a kid, the Sex Pistols had a song called ‘God Save The Queen’ and it was not allowed and just had a big black line through it. It ended up making it so much more hyped up and it was No.1.’

“My dad was like, ‘These are all the things that people really hated that impact culture: Abstract painting, surrealism, the Sex Pistols, The Beatles, Madonna.’ And I felt better [thinking] maybe I'll be able to impact culture. He always sends stuff like that.”

Ignorant Art

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Her mixtape, Ignorant Art

Iggy Azalea: “I got the name from Basquiat. I like how the stuff he did was crude and wasn’t super polished, I wanted to do my music like that too. I was watching documentaries about him and he always felt frustrated or misunderstood. People would be like, ‘You are a black artist.’ He'd be like, ‘Why do I have to be that?’

“I identify with that because people are always like, ‘You’re a white rapper.’ I’m like, ‘Why do I have to be that? Why can't I just be a rapper or a girl rapper? Why does it have to be a race thing?’


 

What is real hip-hop? Why is it if you rap like Common or Kendrick Lamar, you are conscious and that's ‘real hip-hop.’ But if you rap like YG or Gucci Mane that’s not real, or that's the downfall of hip-hop?

 

“Then I saw him in one of the movies where he goes and meets Andy Warhol and says, ‘Do you want to buy some ignorant art?’ When he said it I was like, ‘That is so perfect, I want to use it for a mixtape.’

“We always have these talks about this stuff like, what is real hip-hop anyway? Why is it if you rap like Common or Kendrick Lamar, you are conscious and that's ‘real hip-hop.’ But if you rap like YG or Gucci Mane that’s not real or that's the downfall of hip-hop?

“That’s why I like the name "Ignorant Art," and that's what I want to do—it sounds ignorant to some people but it's still art. Sometimes I want to talk about ignorant shit and sometimes I want to talk about shit that's smart or about love or something that’s meaningful. And sometimes you don't. Everybody has a medium, so the project was about trying to find that medium while you are still trying to push both sides of what is art and what is ignorant. “

DOWNLOAD IGNORANT ART HERE

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