Iggy Azalea Gets Ready To Change Her Life With Debut [EXCLUSIVE]

Hip-Hop has not been an easy road for Amethyst Amelia Kelly, better known as Iggy Azalea. What started off as a dream signing to T.I.’s Grand Hustle label and a spot as the first female on “XXL” magazine’s Freshman cover in 2012 wound up as a war of words with fellow rookie Azalea Banks, her boss in and out of jail, and multiple setbacks.

Although she managed to release a well-received EP and two mixtapes, “Ignorant Art” and “TrapGold” which were produced entirely Diplo, a real debut was looking less and less likely as the days went on and attentions began to shift. But now on the verge of her full length release on Def Jam,”The New Classic,” the Australian native sat down with TheUrbanDaily.com to talk old beefs, new female artists and whether or not public perception runs her reality.

TUD: You’re debuting an album at a time when there aren’t a lot of females out on this level. What’s the pressure like for you? What was your approach for making this album?

Iggy Azalea: I definitely don’t think about gender or the fact that there aren’t a lot of women when I’m making music. What I think about most is making sure that I let people see who I am, I guess that’s the hardest thing.  It’s so easy to do things that are more personal, but it’s really hard to incorporate yourself in them and still be fun. It seems like any time I want to talk about myself I automatically go to making something so moody and sad (laughs). It’s like how can I be me and still be fun and not make that too generalized because I want people to understand who I am? That was the biggest challenge for me. I think I did a good job at it. And that’s kind of the only pressure that I really have. It’s that I never want to have an album where people will review it and say, “I don’t know who she is, and she sounds like everyone else. I don’t know her story and it didn’t let me… she didn’t let me in.” So that’s my pressure. Trying to make sure I have that balance between being generalized into something everyone can identify with but also still having just enough of my personality that people can see who I am. 

You’re a 5’10, Australian blonde who models and dates an NBA player. It’s going to be hard for most to think that they have a lot to identify with.

I mean, I think it doesn’t really matter what your job is. Everybody has the same sh*t in their lives. You have a crappy day at work? I have a crappy day at work. You’re excited about something in your life…a birthday or your friend having a baby? I’m excited too. You broke up with your boyfriend? You’re sad? Same with me. Everybody –I think–has the same cost… fears of failure or happiness, of success or family problems, or going out and wanting to party or feeling good that you’ve reached a goal.  I think we generally all do them, it’s just that [how] we’re doing might be different. (Laughs). A breakup might be a little more embarrassing for me than you (Laughs) it’s the same thing.

You said before that you had to avoid making moody sounding music, but in your interviews you’re always so bubbly and upbeat and you don’t come across as a moody person…

Well I am a Gemini so I do have a mean, annoying, lonely, cry side. (Laughs) I try to avoid it. When I was growing up I was pretty moody and broody and you can get depressed or sad about stuff. Music was always my escape, the thing I could look to and have this escapism of music or of a great video. It was a thing that uplifted me and I always want to be that for people.  I’m not always that way of course. There are times I’m having a shit day and then in the interview I’m more upbeat. But I think it’s important for me. That’s the thing I always want to be for my fans. I want to be that girl that makes someone living in a small town, having a crappy time and they look to music as an escape and I want to be that thing that makes them kinda forget or feel good for a couple of minutes. So I don’t want to have things that are too slow-paced. I don’t want you to be wallowing in your sorrows when you’re listening to something that I’ve made. I would rather it would be something that’s for you to kind of escape to. So that’s why I try to keep it like that, although… yeah, sometimes you’d be surprised.

So who is Iggy’s favorite female MC? Click to find out!

Did you try to capture maybe a little bit of that other moody side on this album so the people could get a better idea of the big picture?

I think that songs like “Don’t Need Yall” is a bit more moody to me, or “Rolex”… pretty slow-paced and reflective compared to other songs. But I try to approach even the sad things in an up-tempo way. “F*ck Love” is a good example of that. And that’s kind of a good example of that. Your relationship gets a little f*cked up and I feel like when that happens you always want to go out and sort of get it off the wall and dance and forget it and you want attention from other men or people and you want to feel like, “I don’t need that person, fuck this, I’m good!” Even if you know it’s a bit of a lie and you’re crying inside a little! (Laughs) I try to even approach the sh*tty things in an up-tempo… kinda like in a fun way rather than getting too, too moody about it. But there are some moments on there where I’m a bit more vulnerable.

I know you said you don’t think about the fact that there aren’t a lot of female emcees out here but we, the public, really do.  And there are only a handful of you guys. Why do you think…

I mean, I was gonna say I know plenty of female rappers, whether or not they get written about is another story but I couldn’t tell you why that is cause I’m not the one that writes? So… you know what I mean? I’m not really a consumer anymore, I’m really more… this is kind of now my industry so I don’t know why. I think that’s something you have to ask a fan of rap music. Why don’t you listen to a lot of female MC’s? Or ask a journalist why don’t you write about female MC’s more? For me, I feel like I just create the music, I can’t really give those answers.

Well old school or new, who are a few females that you listen to?

I like Angel Haze, she’s cool, somebody I really like. And I like Dominique Young Unique. She’s got some good EDM kind of songs that I’ve been hearing from her in England that I’m impressed by. I think she does a good electronic rap situation. I like Ms. Dynamite, she’s also from England. She’s got a great record called “Dibby Dibby Sound” I really like. And of course I love Missy Elliot. She’s a humongous inspiration to me. I love some Lil Kim, I listened to her a lot coming up and I also love Rough Ryder Eve. When she had a buzz-cut and she had red hair. She was badass… I loved that.

That’s interesting. What’s Hip-Hop like where you’re from in Australia?

It’s hard to say now. I feel like I always have to say it from a removed perspective because I’ve lived here for eight years, its kind of tough for me to tell you what it is almost a decade later. I think that would be unfair of me to say. But when I was there it was something that kind of changed. I think it was a trend, it was really popular for a little bit and everybody like it and then the trend moved on and we moved into festival culture and EDM music and loving big DJ’s and that was something that became more prevalent. So I’ve experienced both situations and scenarios in Australia. I’ve experienced everybody listening to Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre and I’ve seen white boys in my school dye their hair bleach-blonde to be like Eminem. And I’ve also kind of seen the tides turn and see them all pick up glow-sticks and want to go try Ecstasy at a rave somewhere (laughs) So I’ve seen both, I’m not sure what the climate is at the moment because like I said it’s kind of like, I think it moves in waves and I don’t know where they currently stand or their excitement over a rap show.

Ok, so I’ve checked out a couple of your other interviews. We understand that your publishing is through Grand Hustle. You’re still down with the crew but you’re signed to Def Jam now. The relationship with TI seems to be quite solid. That’s really great to hear in a day and age where people seem to splinter off and run away…

Oh definitely, he’s like my older brother. He’s my family forever, that will always be solid. That’s not ever gonna change and I can’t see what would make it change. We got together and it was cool. And then I had such a turbulent year and it was like either this was gonna turn to sh*t or we’re gonna be so much stronger, better friends and have a better business relationship as a result of this. And luckily for me it just made us stick together even more and I don’t think there could ever be anything as dire as that that I’ll have to endure in the industry. I think when you start out it’s always the rockiest because it’s your first time experiencing it all. And so now that I’ve made it through that with him and he’s still at my side, I just can’t anything that would make me not have a friendship with him. I think I’ll always be family to him and he’ll always be family to me.

Speaking on turbulent beginnings, you came in the game with a little back and forth with another female rapper, which you slid past and stopped acknowledging. Is this the formula from here on out for any and all conflict that comes at you from a lyrical perspective? Cause MC’s are known to go to war on the mic…

I’ve never been a stereotypical MC. So for me to get sucked in to what you’re supposed to do because you’re a rapper? To me, man that’s bullsh*t. I don’t have to do, or I’m not supposed to do anything. I didn’t come in here to be a rapper and… you know what I mean, rock chains and all that sh*t. I don’t do that sh*t, so why should this apply to me as well? It really doesn’t and it doesn’t have to apply to anybody. I like to think of rap as a more creative kind of outlet for me.  I never really wanna be that MC that battles and has beefs. I have too many other things that are actually important to worry about. Why add another thing? I want to wake up and be happy, I want to go to bed and be happy. I’m just not gonna really do it to myself. It’s unnecessary to me. Before I feel like it’s easy to let pride get in the way and let somebody kinda take me to that level where you’re saying sh*t or doing sh*t and then you’re like “why am I even doing this? Now I just think “whatever.” You can say what whatever the f*ck, I wouldn’t care. I don’t have time for it.

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Iggy Azalea’s album “The New Classic” is in stores on April 22nd!