The latest signee to T.I.’s Grand Hustle label, the Australian born rapper Iggy Azalea discussed how she fell in love with American rap, and shared her thoughts on why gender might be harder than race to overcome in rap in a new interview with Dazed magazine.
On falling in love with American rap and hip hop: “I heard a Tupac song at a friend’s house down the street and it all really started from there. There was something about it that truly touched me. From that day, I got every video, album and magazine related to hip-hop that I could get my hands on. I was obsessed.”
On being a white rap artist in Sydney: “Being a teenage white girl didn’t make me stand out as much as you’d imagine – Australia has a lot of white kids in it! There weren’t too many girls on the mic but there were definitely a lot of girls at the events because it was a cool place to hang out; and a place to meet boys and look cute. I always felt in my heart that I was a champion, so hearing boo’s from a crowd just made me want to prove them all wrong and get better.”
On being a woman in the rap game: “Race to me is a low blow that people just use when they have nothing real to hate on. To me, being a woman is the biggest hindrance; a lot of people don’t want to see a woman on the mic, just like they don’t want to see a woman play an electric guitar. There are a million and one things that I go through as a woman and as a human being that we can all relate to, and colour is just an extremely small thing to me. I have to view it that way if I want the rest of the world to take on that mind frame too.”
On being stereotyped for her “appearance”: “There are a million and one stereotypes people try to put on me every day. How a woman should act, how an Australian should act, how a white person should act, what ‘real rap’ is, what we consider to be beautiful. I’m blind to them all in my creative process. A stereotype should never hinder art if you’re brave about it, and I try to be.”
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