Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), better known by her stage name Iggy Azalea (/əˈzeɪljə/), is an Australian rapper, songwriter, and model. Born in Sydney and raised in Mullumbimby, Azalea moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a career in hip hop music, residing in the southern part of the country. She earned public recognition after releasing YouTube music videos for her songs “Pu$$y” and “Two Times”. She signed a record contract with T.I.’s record label Grand Hustle in 2012, gaining attention from her debut mixtape Ignorant Art.
Her debut studio album, The New Classic (2014), peaked among the top five of several charts worldwide and received generally mixed reviews. The album spawned five singles: “Work”, “Bounce”, “Change Your Life”, “Fancy” and “Black Widow”. “Fancy” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for seven consecutive weeks, making Azalea the fourth female rapper in the history of the chart to reach number one. Additionally, Azalea was featured on Ariana Grande’s single “Problem”, which peaked at number two while “Fancy” was number one; Azalea joined The Beatles as the only acts to rank at numbers one and two simultaneously with their first two Hot 100 entries. Azalea also went on to pass Lil’ Kim as the female rapper with the longest-leading number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100.
Early life
Amethyst Amelia Kelly was born in Sydney and brought up in Mullumbimby, New South Wales. Her father, Brendan Kelly, was a painter and comic artist, 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 5 hectares (12 acres) of land.According to Azalea, she has some Aboriginal (Indigenous Australian) ancestry: “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.” Azalea has also said that her father “made her look at [art] as 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 neighbourhood: “I was like, I could be the rapper. This could be like TLC. I’ll be Left Eye.” Azalea eventually decided to disband the group because the other girls weren’t taking it seriously: “I take everything I do serious [sic]. 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 houses 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 travelled 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 afterwards 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 her arrival in the U.S., she received her GED, and resided in the country on a visa waiver for six years, returning to Australia every three months to renew it. Azalea currently resides in the U.S. on a five-year O visa, as of February 2013, having previously earned money illegally
2016: Digital Distortion
In October 2015, Azalea revealed the title of her second album, Digital Distortion, which will be released in the following year, with two buzz tracks titled “Azillion” and “Middle Man” and the project’s lead single “Team” also premiering before its release. “Azillion” was released on her Soundcloud page on January 8, 2016.
Artistry
Image
After at first resisting suggestions to try modeling, in 2012 Azalea signed with Wilhelmina Models International Inc., a model and celebrity agency in the fashion industry. She featured in promotional ads for Los Angeles-based lifestyle brand Dim Mak’s 2012 fall/winter collection. Also in 2012, Azalea was the face of Levi’s “Go Forth” campaign. Azalea also appeared in 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 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.
Personal life
In late 2011, Azalea began dating American rapper ASAP Rocky, whom she met through American record producer Chase N. Cashe. She confirmed that they were dating in a January 2012 interview with Vibe. It was around this time that she got the title of Rocky’s breakout mixtape Live. Love. A$AP, tattooed on her fingers. She had claimed she was not the only one with tattoos dedicated to the relationship, just Rocky’s were not visible. In July 2012, Rocky stated they were no longer dating. In March 2013, Azalea revealed she had crossed out the “A$AP” part of the tattoo months previously.
She has been in a relationship with Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Nick Young since November 2013. Azalea and Young were featured in the March 2014 issue of GQ magazine. They reside together in Tarzana, California. On 1 June 2015, they announced their engagement.
In March 2015, while talking about her body shape with 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 wanting 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 own bodies, she concluded, “But then, I decided I wasn’t into secret-keeping.” In August 2015, she talked about having a nose job with 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.”
Awards and nominations
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Iggy Azalea
Iggy Azalea has been nominated for numerous major music awards. In 2014, she received two American Music Awards in the Rap/Hip-Hop categories, along with four more nominations, and one 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 and one MTV Europe Music Award. Azalea won the 2014 ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist and the 2015 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Hip-Hop Artist.
In November 2014, she was placed at number-one on the 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 world.[119][120] Azalea received four nominations at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Fancy” and Best Rap Album for The New Classic. Azalea joined the list of the 9th Annual Billboard Women in Music honorees as a chart-topper. On 9 December 2014, it was announced she was placed at number-one on Billboard Year-End’s Top New Artists chart. In 2015, Azalea also led the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards nominations with five. She received twelve nominations at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards.
Discography
Main articles: Iggy Azalea discography and List of songs recorded by Iggy Azalea
The New Classic (2014)
Digital Distortion (2016)
Filmography
Main article: Iggy Azalea videography
Furious 7 (2015)
Tours
Headlining
The New Classic Tour (2014)
The Great Escape Tour (2015; canceled)
Featured act
XXL Freshmen Live Tour (2012)
Tyga – MTV Jams Presents: Closer To My Dreams Tour (2012)
Rita Ora – Ora Tour (2012)
Rita Ora – Radioactive Tour (2013)
Nas – Life Is Good Tour (2013)
Beyoncé – The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour (2013)
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 30: Recording artist Iggy Azalea (L) performs on the Marilyn Stage during day 1 of the 2014 Budweiser Made in America Festival at Los Angeles Grand Park on August 30, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Anheuser-Busch)
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