Iggy Azalea had a rough 2015. After scoring two worldwide hits, ‘Fancy’ and ‘Problem’ and a successful debut album with The New Classic, she was a victim of slander on social media all throughout the year, which was sparked by her public feud with Azealia Banks who called Iggy out for not commenting about unrest in Ferguson and Baltimore. Then came a Hip-Hop “history” lesson by Q-Tip and threats by hacker group Anonymous who vouched to leak nudes of the rapper if she didn’t apologize for “misappropriating black culture”.
But Iggy is now back a bit stronger and prepping the release of her upcoming sophomore album titled Digital Distortion. She is on the cover of Elle Canada where she has opened about the torturous year, why people misunderstand her, love for Rap music, her much talked about nose job and why did it, new album and much more.
Are you looking for acceptance from the hip-hop community?
“Certain people who don’t like me think that I don’t love rap music, but I love rap music. I love it like it’s my fucking husband…. I think a lot of people in hip hop have a tough time finding something in common with me. At least white [and black] male rappers both have dicks and they’re American. But for me, I’m a white woman from Australia. I get it, but I think we have a lot more in common than they think.”
What kinds of stories do you want people to be talking about this year when they hear your name?
“I feel like I got villainized so badly last year, to the point where I wasn’t even a person anymore. I just became this thing that everyone laughed at and would write awful things about—I think people forgot I was a person. People don’t have to like me, but I would appreciate it if they would still consider the fact that I’m a human being. You think Nick likes to hear that his fiancée doesn’t care about Black Lives Matter? Trust me, it was not fun last year in this house. No one wants to be told that they should kill themselves and that they’re like Hitler a hundred times a day; it’s not nice. At that point it goes beyond criticism, and, trust me, I can handle criticism; if I couldn’t, I wouldn’t be here with a second album, still standing. I think after what I went through, most people would quit, and I definitely considered it, but I really love rap music and I’m not going to stop making it.”
On her nose job:
“I think, in 2016, people should be more accepting of the fact that both famous and non-famous women are having cosmetic procedures. That’s just the reality. And I think more people need to admit that shit so it doesn’t have to be so taboo—because we’re all doing it anyway.”
“I wanted to change my nose because I didn’t grow up with a bump on it—that happened when I got smashed in the face with a soccer ball when I was 16. Now I feel like my nose looks the way it’s supposed to look. But for how long do we have to acknowledge that I got a nose job? For the rest of my life? Am I going to be 45 and people are still saying ‘Nice nose job’?”
“Everyone tells you that you should love your body the way it is, but then it is bad to say that you want to change something about yourself not because you want to look like someone else, just because you want to? What’s wrong with that?”
“There’s nothing black and white about beauty or plastic surgery. There are no guarantees that it will fix how you feel about yourself. All of those women [who criticize someone for having surgery]—if they had $10 million in their account tomorrow, I’d dare them not to change one thing about themselves or at least think about it. Yes, there are some women who wouldn’t change a thing, but, for the majority of us, we’d be thinking about that one thing. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I just hope that in 25 years the conversation will shift to where if a woman wants to change her body, all we say is ‘Good for her!’ instead of shaming her for making decisions about her own body.”
On her new album Digital Distortion:
“I wouldn’t say it’s an angry album. It’s still uptempo and fun, but it’s a little more grown-up and moody. I didn’t want people’s commentary to take me away from the style of music that I make…. There are some ‘Fuck yous’ and ‘Fuck yeahs,’ but I want people to hear it and feel good.”
“The album has a bit of an electronic, digital influence, so the name fits sonically. But then, of course, topically, we all know the different things that were said about me in 2015—some of them were fair and some of them, I think, were unfair. I just think it’s interesting that we live in this age of digital distortion where we’re all distorting each other and distorting ourselves and our perception of who we all are, and none of it is really accurate anymore.”
Read the full interview here.