The Tangled Life Iggy Azalea Made For Herself

This article references homophobia and racism.

Iggy Azalea's life is as tangled as the black widow spider she raps about. The Australian rapper, whose real name is Amethyst Amelia Kelly, grew up far away from the Hollywood hills in Mullumbimby, a small coastal town in New South Wales. After skyrocketing to fame with songs like "Work" in 2013 and "Fancy" ft. Charli XCX a year later, Azalea went on to earn multiple Grammy nominations, cementing her status as one of the industry's top female rappers. While her brazen performance style follows the lead of rap legends like Lil Kim and Eve, her unapologetic personality has kept her name in the press. As quickly as Azalea rose, the rapper fell from grace with controversy after controversy. 

From accusations of cultural insensitivity and suggestions that her performance style is all flop and no flow to feuds with fellow musicians, the star has been repeatedly criticized by the music press and gossip-hungry netizens, alike. As Azalea told The Guardian in 2014, if her fans don't care, then neither does she. "For every pseudo-intellectual that's writing something negative online about me, I'll go to a show ... and look at the millions of people that are buying the records and think, 'They are simply not interested in that stuff.'" But would that sentiment hold true over time? Or would the mainstream music scene have "one less problem" without her? We're unweaving the tangled web that Iggy Azalea has made for herself. 

Iggy Azalea is a long way from her Australian roots, and she makes sure to represent that in every one of her tracks. As noted by The Washington Post, the star has been accused of adopting what linguists refer to as African American English in her performance — and she's received a lot of heat for it. Discussing the topic with Jill Scott on an episode of "Sway In The Morning," the rapper, Eve, suggested that Azalea would do better performing in her own voice rather than adopting another. "The 'Blaccent,'" she cringed. "... She's from a different place and I've said this before, it would be dope to hear her with her swag." Presumably, in response to the comments, Azalea tweeted (via Billboard), "I feel like they're really saying 'Act more like how I stereotype you to be, so I can feel comfortable.'"

In defense of her musical persona, the rapper claimed she grew up adapting to American culture and values through film and TV. She told Elle Canada (via HuffPost) that Australian actors she grew up watching would also use an American accent in their roles, not unlike country star Keith Urban when he sings in an American accent. "I'm not trying to sound Black," she insisted. Three years earlier, the star had shrugged off criticisms that the accent she raps in wasn't just inauthentic but also racially insensitive. Azalea told Complex that rapping in her Australian accent wasn't an option for her due to the breath patterns required.

Iggy Azalea's Twitter thumbs got the best of her, and the LGBTQ+ community wasn't letting her walk away unscathed. The "Pretty Girls" performer sparked a backlash in 2015 when tweets from four years earlier resurfaced containing homophobic and racially insensitive comments. In one since-deleted tweet, she wrote, "Just saw five black men get arrested out the front of popeyes ... #stereotypes." In another, she wrote, "When guys whisper in each other's ears I always think its kinda homo" (via The Guardian). 

The tweets sparked outrage among fans, causing Azalea to pull out of the Pittsburgh Pride festival amidst the controversy. In a statement, the rapper apologized for her actions, writing, "I am a firm believer in equality. Unfortunately in the past as a young person, I used words I should not have. The last thing I want is for something so carelessly said to be interpreted as reflective of my character. I meant no harm and deeply regret ever uttering those words."

It certainly wasn't the rapper's year. Just a few weeks earlier, she canceled her "Great Escape" arena tour, telling Seventeen, "Mentally ... I just feel I deserve a break. I've been going non-stop for the past two years, nearly every single day." However, rumors had it that despite the artist needing a break, the canceled tour was a result of failing ticket sales. Defamer posted a graphic disputing the rapper's claim, appearing to show a half-full arena three months into her tour sales. 

They say don't bite the hand that feeds you — but that didn't apply to Iggy Azalea. In 2014, the Australian native launched her career by releasing her debut album, "The New Classic," with Def Jam Recordings. Despite her initial success, the star weathered several publicity storms and flops while on the label. The rapper had a change of heart in 2018 and decided to switch to Island Records, but she refused to go quietly. 

"[Def Jam CEO] Steve Bartels says he doesn't want to release another single for my album unfortunately — So that's that," she wrote of the Def Jam CEO in a since-deleted tweet (via Billboard). "I'm very unhappy with the way things have been handled too. I will make sure it's not this way for [my next album] ... I can assure you guys of that." Both of the record labels are owned by Universal Music Group but exist as standalone labels. 

It wasn't the first time that the rapper had experienced disagreements with her record label. In 2012, Azalea left another Universal label, Interscope Records, over disagreements regarding her fresh management deal with T.I.'s Grand Hustle. Azalea went on to release the track "Savior" under Island Records, a track featuring Quavo off her sophomore album, "Digital Distortion."

Iggy Azalea has a history of saying the wrong thing. Or in this particular case, rapping the wrong thing. As reported by Vibe, her song "D.R.U.G.S." sparked outrage due to a lyric that stated, "When the relay starts, I'm a runaway slave master." The line was in reference to Kendrick Lamar's "Look Out For Detox," in which the Pulitzer Prize-winning artist rapped, "When the relay starts I'm a runaway slave." Almost half a year after the song's release, Azealia Banks criticized XXL magazine for putting the performer on the cover, tweeting (via Vulture), "How can you endorse a white woman who called herself a 'runaway slave master'?"

Seemingly in response, Azalea issued a formal apology on MissJia (via Vulture). "This is a metaphoric take on an originally literal lyric, and I was never trying to say I am a slave owner," she wrote. "It was a tacky and careless thing to say and if you are offended, I am sorry. Sometimes we get so caught up in our art and creating or trying to push boundaries, we don't stop to think how others may be hurt by it."

Rapper T.I., who previously signed Azalea to his label, defended the rapper amidst the backlash. Suggesting that the star had become an easy target for mockery and derision, he noted on Hot 97′s "Ebro in the Morning" (via Rolling Stone), "It's very difficult to be the new kid and to be the butt of the jokes."

In 2021, Iggy Azalea was accused of "Blackfishing" after viewers claimed she was sporting a darker-than-usual skin complexion in her "I Am The Strip Club" music video. The term was coined in 2018 by journalist Wanna Thompson, who told CNN, that it was used to describe influential white celebrities who change their appearance to appear Black. "Whether that means to tan their skin excessively in an attempt to achieve ambiguity, and wear hairstyles and clothing trends that have been pioneered by Black women," she elaborated.

The music video was a stark contrast for the artist, who traded her light blonde locks and fair complexion for a black wig and a browner skin tone. On Twitter, Azalea denied any conscious wrongdoing, writing, "I'm the same color as I always am, just in a dimly lit room with red lights. It's the same makeup from every other part of the video just with a Smokey eye and [a] different wig."

Regardless, netizens had plenty of mixed opinions on the matter. In response to a CNN feature regarding the controversy, one user tweeted, "Black culture is the blueprint. It's copied all over the world, yet in the end, black people are erased from it while others get to rewarded." Meanwhile, in response to Azalea's denial tweet, others responded in support of the star, with one tweeting, "You be you cuz haters are gonna hate." Despite those who defended her, the artist would continue to battle similar accusations.

Iggy Azalea has had her fair share of public spats, but her feud with Azealia Banks was especially messy. According to Vulture, their beef began on Twitter in 2011 when Banks alleged that she wrote a track titled "P***Y" before Iggy Azalea. While this initial interaction actually appeared to be light-hearted and friendly, a year later Azalea explained during an interview with Brooklyn Martino (via Vulture) that she interpreted the back-and-forth as a diss. 

Following Banks' subsequent criticism of her rival's "D.R.U.G.S" lyric, the feud maintained a steady momentum for years. In 2014, during an emotional interview with HOT 97, the "212" rapper got choked up whilst discussing Azalea in regards to what she felt she was rightly owed within the music industry — and not just financially. "At the very f***ing least, you all owe me the right to my identity," she said. The star also called out the "Fancy" rapper's Grammy nominations that year. "Iggy Azalea is not excellent," she said. "... When they give these Grammys out, all it says to white kids is, 'Oh yeah, you're great, you're amazing, you can do whatever you put your mind to.' And it says to black kids, 'You don't have s***. You don't own s***, not even the s*** you created for yourself,' and it makes me upset."

Azalea responded to her comments in a since-deleted twitter thread that suggested Banks hadn't succeeded because of her bad attitude, writing, "You're poisonous and I feel genuinely sorry for you" (via HuffPost).

What's a rapper who can't even freestyle? That was the question on many fans' minds when a video of Iggy Azalea put on the spot surfaced from her interview on "Sway In The Morning." The rapper turned down a beat to rhyme to and seemed to nervously stall and sip her coffee before launching into a rap rendition that many deemed less than impressive. Her then-mentor and label head, T.I. could also be seen in the background walking out of the frame as she starts to rap. 

In 2022, the clip resurfaced when the Twitter account, Hip Hop Moments, reposted an edited version of Azalea and her attempted "freestyle." However, in this version, the video had been altered to include a listener calling in to slam her flow. The "Work" performer was quick to respond, tweeting, "Never forget that this is a literal edit [and] whilst this verse is indeed trash, John from Tennessee has never called me," she wrote. In another tweet, she added that the original caller had phoned up to mock Lil Debbie's freestyle. Naturally, this prompted Lil Debbie to fire back at Azalea, tweeting in response, "[Yeah], he called in for me but you're right he could've called in for that verse you spit." 

Still, that same day, in a separate tweet, the star suggested she saw the funny side, writing, "I'm so glad I can laugh at myself cause it's never that deep or serious to walk through life angry at everything and everyone."

Though Iggy Azalea rose to stardom with hit tracks like "Fancy" and "Problem," the singer reached a lull in her career just a few years after it took off. In 2018, the rapper canceled her 21-stop U.S. "Bad Girls" tour — her first time back on the road since 2014. In a since-deleted tweet (via Variety), Azalea stressed that the decision wasn't up to her. "Believe me — I was really excited for this tour ... and I'm genuinely disappointed it can't happen this year. The choice was out of my hands and not my call to make." 

On Twitter, her opening act, CupcakKe also announced that the plans had changed. Insisting that Azalea wasn't personally at fault, she explained that she simply wanted to be paid what she was reportedly promised. "I went from getting paid 330k on this tour to 30k that's what I mean by 'change plans,'" she wrote. 

It was the beginning of a rough stretch for the star. That same year, she cracked the Top 100 with her single "Kream" featuring Tyga, but it was a far cry away from her previous successes with "Fancy" and "Problem." In 2021, the rapper dropped "End of an Era"  independently via her own record label, "Bad Dreams." It literally marked the end of Azalea's era, with the rapper tweeting, "[I am] going to take a few years to focus on other creative projects and things I'm feeling passionate and inspired by, beyond music."

After releasing "The End of an Era" in 2021, it seemed Iggy Azalea was ready for a break from music. However, her hiatus was short-lived. Just a year later, she took to Twitter to explain that she'd felt exhausted by all the constant negativity she endured within the music industry. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the noise didn't stop simply because she opted out of it. "But what I've learned is that even when I'm minding my business, y'all gonna be negative and nosey," she wrote. "So if I can't have peace, neither can you. I'm coming back. Cry about it." In a follow-up tweet, she added that she wasn't interested in discussing her new ventures further. "Just know it's happening and there will be a budget," she wrote. 

In January 2023, Azalea hinted at new music by tweeting that fans should expect it by the summer. As reported by Billboard, although the rapper sold her masters to Domain Capital in a reported eight-figure deal in 2022, she appeared to still be moving forward with new material on her own label, "Bad Dreams," where she owns a 100% stake in all her masters and publishing on future tracks. But the star also had one more trick up her sleeve for the release of her next project — and it involved an Only Fans subscription service.

In an attempt to regain control over her fledgling career, Iggy Azalea took to Only Fans. The star first announced her debut on the platform in January 2023 with her project "Hotter Than Hell." The $25 monthly subscription buys access to a mixed-media project featuring poetry, photography, video, and illustrations, as well as her fourth album. According to the Daily Mail, the rapper was inspired by '90s pin-up icons such as Pamela Anderson and Madonna's 1992 book, "Sex." In a statement published by the outlet, Azalea explained about her Only Fans collaboration, "I feel excited about not having to worry about the overwhelming and creatively limiting censorship artists have to navigate when sharing work on other digital platforms." 

While radio personality DJ Akademiks claimed that the Australian rapper made close to $500,000 on the site in her first 24 hours (via Perth Now), Azalea slammed the rumors on Twitter. "With love, I won't share what I make on OF, in the same way, I didn't share what I earned selling my music catalog," she wrote. "Amounts being reported don't come from a valid source." Still, the rapper wasn't shy about bragging that her project crashed Only Fans for four consecutive days upon launch on her Instagram Stories (via Daily Mail).

Iggy Azalea's love life is about as tangled as her music career. The Australian rapper has been linked to rapper Playboy Carti since 2018. However, their relationship has been on and off ever since. The "Team" singer kept her relationship private for years. In a 2020 Instagram Stories post (via Vulture), she even announced that she gave birth to her son, Onyx, without revealing his father. However, fans put two and two together as Playboy Carti, whose real name is Jordan Carter, revealed to Fader that he and Azalea had moved in a year earlier. 

A month after announcing the birth of their son, Azalea hinted at trouble in her relationship with Carti while sharing the first photos of their baby. "You lost a real [one]. People take loyalty for granted [and] that's why I'd rather be alone," she wrote. A day later, she elaborated on her statement, writing, "What I meant last night was that I'm raising my son alone [and] I'm not in a relationship," (via People).

On Twitter, Azalea alleged that Carti had missed the birth of his son because he was too busy playing video games. In the since-deleted tweets (via Complex), the star added that the issue was further complicated by quarantine restrictions, writing, "I had Onyx alone completely cause he was my only visitor approved [because of COVID-19] We lived together at that time." She also accused her ex of having cheated on her during the relationship (via XXL).

Iggy Azalea's personal life got even messier when reports revealed that she was linked to Tory Lanez. In 2022, the Canadian rapper was found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion at a party in the Hollywood Hills in 2020. He was convicted of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharge of a firearm with gross negligence. Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, testified that the rapper shot her in a foot following a heated argument.

Rumors that Azalea was romantically involved with Lanez began after he shared an Instagram post concerning a cake she had sent him to celebrate the release of his 2022 album, "Sorry 4 What." Eyebrows were further raised when he wrote, "Thank you, baby girl," in the caption while tagging the Australian rapper. 

According to HipHop DX, blogger, Tasha K had further alleged that Azalea had been leaving her child at home with Lanez and prioritized cooking meals for the Canadian rapper over feeding her own son. In a since-deleted Twitter thread, the Australian star suggested that the speculation was without merit. "Why [and] how is my son even a topic for her? Weird AF," she wrote. "Clearly, I know Tory. We met in 2018 because we both write music in studios," She added, "Who I spend time with in private whether it be professionally, romantically, or platonically isn't something I need to give the internet updates on."

Iggy Azalea's not just battling personal life drama and a shaky music career, the rapper also underwent serious surgery. In a Twitter thread posted in November 2022, the rapper revealed she underwent relatively minor surgery to correct a back injury sustained during touring. Sadly, she experienced complications during her recovery that led to a health scare. "[I] ended up in bed hooked up to a million machines and in so much pain there are about three days I actually just can't remember at all," Azalea tweeted. "... It's been very mentally challenging to suddenly not be able to do anything for yourself and have no answers about when you will recover. That was the hardest part. But all the [doctors] have been so happy with how quickly I'm getting better now that I'm back moving [and] walking."

Azalea admitted that during the ordeal she was unable to walk for about three weeks, lost twenty pounds in a month, and missed out on a planned movie role in Australia. Still, the rapper took it in stride, setting goals to get back into fitness after the unexpected incident. "I value my body in a whole new way after this experience," she tweeted, urging her fans to value and pay attention to their bodies.