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It would be hard to refute that the song of this summer belongs to Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX. The rap element of "Fancy" is something that Miss. XCX connected with early on in life and wanted to explore a lot more of as a burgeoning artist. She tells Complex UK: "When I was younger, I really wanted to be Eminem for a while, so it's cool now to be doing this. Hip-hop is an association I definitely wanted because I've always thought that rappers are just the coolest people in the world. It's not necessarily something I thought would actually happen, though."
After several consecutive years of being tipped as a one-to-watch artist, Charli had her first taste of global success in 2012 when she featured on and co-wrote Icona Pop's anthem, "I Love It". But 2014 was the real game-changer: the London popstress' solo single, "Boom Clap", rocked the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, all before her momentous collaboration with one of the hottest female rappers in the world right now. Which kinda made us think: what would Charli XCX's favourite female rap tracks of all time actually be? Obviously, we called her up to pick her brain.
Words by Holly Rubenstein (@HollyRubenstein)
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5.DJ Blackstarr & Rye Rye – "Shake It"
"I remember hearing 'Shake It' and thinking how cool Rye Rye's voice sounded over that simplistic production. Even though it's just her, she kind of sounds like a gang of kids when she raps, which sounds super-fresh. This was a song I played on repeat. A lot!"
4.Iggy Azalea – "Down South"
"This is a track on Iggy's Trap Gold mixtape and I love it, because it's filthy! She just talks about her pussy loads. The lyrics on that song are so dirty, and I love that about it. Her voice cuts through so much for me, and the verses are super tight. Diplo and FKi did an awesome job on the production."
3.Missy Elliott – "Get Ur Freak On"
"I could've picked any Missy Elliott song, but I went with the obvious choice. 'Get Ur Freak On' is such a classic. It's another song, to me, that sounds ahead of its time. It still sounds so fresh. Timbaland's beat, the video's tight, and she's just badass. The whole thing was on some next level shit. There's something so robotic and futuristic about that song but her flows are so smooth over this crazy beat, and her lyrics are incredible. In my eyes, Missy is the queen of rap. She has this unique style like no one else and I find that so sexy. She just nails it every time."
2.Uffie – "Pop The Glock"
"When I was about 14, this song changed my life. I found it on MySpace, and it still sounds like nothing else. Uffie's rapping with loads of vocoder, the sick beat… It sounds like the future. It was ahead of its time. Uffie really got me into rap music. And music in general, actually. She really inspired me and I wanted to make music like that."
1.Eve Feat. Gwen Stefani — "Blow Your Mind"
"I remember hearing this for the first time on one of the NOW albums. I still know all the words to Eve's bit! For me, it's the best female collaboration of all time. Obviously, Gwen's sick and Eve—she's just amazing. And the video is so, so good! When Iggy and I were doing 'Fancy', it felt like an homage to that moment. Nothing will ever compare to that in my eyes, but it felt cool to be doing such a large-scale female collaboration like they did. I always think it's cool when females collaborate."