Iggy Azalea

Biography

Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea ( ə-ZAY-lee-ə), is an Australian model, businesswoman and former rapper. Born in Sydney, Azalea moved to the United States at age 16 to pursue a career in music. She gained recognition on YouTube with the music videos for her 2011 songs "Pussy" and "Two Times", before self-releasing her debut mixtape Ignorant Art (2011) and signing with American rapper T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records. Azalea's debut studio album, The New Classic (2014), peaked within the top five of several charts worldwide and later topped the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making her the first non-American female rapper to achieve the feat. The album's lead single, "Fancy" (featuring Charli XCX), was a major commercial success, topping the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and earning a nomination for Record of the Year at the 2015 Grammy Awards. Azalea also featured on Ariana Grande's 2014 single "Problem", which peaked at number two behind "Fancy", making her only the second act after the Beatles to hold the top two positions on the chart simultaneously with debut entries. A further single from the album, "Black Widow" (featuring Rita Ora), also reached the top ten. Following her debut album, Azalea released several singles intended for a planned second album, Digital Distortion. However, ongoing conflicts with her record label, compounded by personal difficulties, led to the project's cancellation. She subsequently signed with Island Records, releasing her fourth extended play, Survive the Summer (2018). Further disputes with the label prompted Azalea to self-release her second studio album, In My Defense (2019), followed by the EP Wicked Lips (2019) and her third studio album, The End of an Era (2021). In 2024, Azalea announced her retirement from music via social media, as reported by Billboard. Azalea is one of the best-selling female rappers in the world. Her accolades include two American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, an MTV Video Music Award, a People's Choice Award and four Teen Choice Awards, as well as four Grammy Awards nominations. Her YouTube channel, together with collaborators, has accumulated over 7 billion views, and 15 of her music videos have surpassed 100 million views on Vevo.

== Early life ==

Amethyst Amelia Kelly was born in Sydney and grew up in Mullumbimby. 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. She has two siblings named Mathias and Emerald Kelly. 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 neighborhood: "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 were not 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 traveled 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 afterward 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 she arrived in the US, she received her General Educational Development (GED), and resided in the country on a visa waiver for six years, returning to Australia every three months to renew it. Azalea worked in the US illegally until February 2013 when she was granted a five-year O visa. In 2018, Azalea was approved as a permanent U.S. resident.

== Career ==

=== 2006–2012: Early musical work === When she first arrived in the United States in 2006, she stayed in Miami, Florida, and afterward lived briefly in Houston, Texas. Azalea settled for a few years in Atlanta, Georgia, working with a member of the rap collective Dungeon Family named Backbone. During that period, she met future collaborators FKi and Natalie Sims. She said people would laugh at her because "they thought my raps sucked", but having grown up getting laughed at, she was able to shrug it off. Meanwhile, she had met someone from Interscope Records who encouraged her move to Los Angeles during the summer of 2010. Interscope would eventually go on to manage her for a brief period of time. It was during this time that she adopted her stage name, which she created from the name of her childhood dog, Iggy, and the street she grew up on, Azalea Street, where her family lives to this day. Regarding her decision to combine the names to form her stage name, Azalea credited her grandfather, who reportedly worked in television. "He told me this theory, and it made perfect mathematical sense about syllables and stage names -- they have to have a certain amount of syllables and mine was wrong." She also started making stop motion animated videos with freestyle rap because she felt like she had found her sound. On 27 September 2011, Azalea released her first full-length project, a mixtape titled Ignorant Art, saying she made it "with the intent to make people question and redefine old ideals." Her song "Pussy" was included on the mixtape, alongside guest appearances from YG, Joe Moses, Chevy Jones, and Problem. In November 2011, she released a music video for her song "My World", directed by Alex/2tone. The video features a cameo appearance from character actor and former wrestler Tiny Lister, which earned her more attention due to its rising popularity online. "It's supposed to have like, all the ridiculousness of a big-budget '90s video, but then chopped and screwed", said Azalea, of the video. In December 2011, Azalea revealed she would release her debut studio album, The New Classic, as soon as she signed a major record label deal: "Once that's sorted out and I establish an overall sound and direction for the album, I will be able to know what artists would make for a dynamic collaboration." On 11 January 2012, Azalea released the music video for "The Last Song", her third video from Ignorant Art. In an interview with Billboard, released on 27 January, Azalea hinted at an Interscope Records signing, while also revealing hopes of releasing The New Classic in June, and for her debut single to precede it in March.

Azalea reached out to rapper T.I., for the direction of her debut album. T.I. was set to executive produce The New Classic, soon after a phone call the two had. At the time, Azalea was eyeing a summer release for The New Classic: "Hopefully if all goes to plan, my album will be out in June and I'll have it recorded by the end of the month." However, after Interscope did not allow T.I. to be an ongoing part of her deal, Azalea opted not to sign with the major label and stay independently signed to Grand Hustle Records, until the release of her first album, which had then been postponed. In early 2012, Azalea was featured on the cover of XXL, as part of its annual "Top 10 Freshman List", along with fellow up-and-coming rappers French Montana, Machine Gun Kelly, Danny Brown, Hopsin, and Roscoe Dash. On 1 March 2012, T.I. announced he signed Azalea to Grand Hustle Records, along with rappers Chip and Trae tha Truth. On 26 March 2012, Azalea posted "Murda Bizness", the intended lead single for The New Classic, on her YouTube account. The song was produced by Bei Maejor and features a verse from her Grand Hustle label-boss T.I. In April 2012, via her Twitter feed, Azalea announced plans to release an extended play (EP) entitled Glory, later in May: "I'm just onto something right now, the last two weeks and it's glory. Azaleans need something new." Also in April, Azalea starred alongside Grammy-nominated producer Diplo and FKi in the world's first fully interactive shoppable music video for Canadian fashion retailer, SSENSE. In May 2012, it was confirmed by T.I. on MTV's HipHopPov that Azalea had not yet secured distribution for her deal with Grand Hustle Records, and was described by T.I. as a "free agent". It was later revealed in the interview that she was in negotiation with labels other than Interscope, possibly Def Jam Recordings (wherein Bu Thiam, whom of which originally placed a bid to sign her is VP of A&R). Azalea was also featured on Steve Aoki and Angger Dimas' collaborative electronic track "Beat Down", which was released on 31 May 2012.

On 24 June 2012, Azalea released "Millionaire Misfits", the second offering from her EP Glory; the first being "Murda Bizness". On 21 July, the official music video for "Murda Bizness" was released online. Glory, although not released in May, as it was originally scheduled, was released 30 July 2012. Azalea was also one of the acts on MTV's 2012 Closer to My Dreams Tour, along with Tyga and Kirko Bangz. On 28 September 2012, Azalea announced she would be releasing her second mixtape on 11 October 2012. Titling it TrapGold, the mixtape was produced entirely by Diplo and FKi. She later premiered teaser visuals for the track "Bac 2 Tha Future (My Time)", On 9 October 2012, Azalea made her US national television debut, appearing alongside T.I., B.o.B and other Grand Hustle artists in a cypher at the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards. Later that month, she embarked on yet another North American mini-concert tour with Roc Nation singer-songwriter Rita Ora, on her Ora Tour. Azalea then headlined a tour in Europe to support TrapGold. On 16 December 2012, Azalea performed live alongside Natasha Bedingfield and Bootsy Collins, covering Deee-Lite's 1990 hit disco song "Groove Is in the Heart", on the annual television series VH1 Divas.