Iggy Azalea Hints at Hanging Up the Mic
Iggy Azalea, the first Australia-born rapper to land a No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, is waving bye-bye to the music business.
In a lengthy message posted to her X (formerly Twitter) account, Azalea shed light on her New Year’s resolution.
“I’ve always been someone who finds my joy in being creative & seeing my ideas come to life. For a long time I used music to deliver my big crazy ideas to the world,” she writes.
“I know a lot of people have this idea that I was ‘bullied away from music’ and that’s something I’ve always laughed at because I’d never be bullied out of anything! In fact, I’m too stubborn. I think I’ve even resisted changes within myself at times, purely because I don’t like being viewed as someone who quits.”
https://twitter.com/IGGYAZALEA/status/1742504027483488693
Though music isn’t in her plans, Iggy isn’t turning her back on art.
“In truth what I’ve known for a long time is that I feel more passionately about design and creative direction than I do about songwriting,” she adds.
“That’s why I want to let you know that I’m not going to finish my album. It’s been paused for a few months while I was giving direction for a different project & in truth I just haven’t felt the urge to go back to it. I feel really happy & passionate in my day to day life when my [mind’s] focused on that and so I want to stick to what’s undeniably best for me.”
That now-canned album was meant to be executive-produced by Tory Lanez, who is now serving time in the U.S. after being found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion.
Iggy’s third and most recent album was 2021’s EDM-heavy The End of an Era, released through her own label Bad Dreams Records and Empire Distribution.
It failed to replicate the success of her Grammy-nominated debut The New Classic, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 5 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart.
Born in Sydney and raised in Mullumbimby, northern NSW, Azalea relocated to the U.S. in her teens to pursue her career in music.
When her breakthrough came, it placed her in company with the Beatles.
Back in 2014, ten years ago, Iggy (real name Amethyst Amelia Kelly) etched her name in the history books when she led the U.S. singles chart with her debut hit “Fancy,” featuring British producer and artist Charli XCX, and simultaneously nailed second spot as the featured artist on Ariana Grande’s “Problem.”
Prior to that, the only act to rank at No. 1 and 2 simultaneously with their first two Hot 100 hits was the Beatles, which the Fab Four did back in early 1964.
If the bouquets came early in Azalea’s career, the brickbats came hard and fast.
At times she was dogged by accusations of cultural appropriation, and in 2015, openly confessed that she’d had endured a tough time with beefs with other hip-hop artists and a scrapped tour.
The following year, in 2016, Iggy joined the judging panel for X Factor Australia’s eighth and final season along with Queen singer Adam Lambert and Spice Girl Mel B.
Her departure from music has been a years-long process. Two years ago, she sold her catalog to Domain Capital, the Atlanta, Georgia-based investment services specialist, for a reported eight-figure sum.
In recent months, she pivoted to the OnlyFans platform to share illustrations, poetry, photography and videos with subscribers, and a coffee-table book is said to be in the works.