Iggy pops up on US hip hop scene
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Iggy Azalea has returned home to play as a support act in Beyonce’s national tour.
Source: Supplied
AUSTRALIAN rap star Iggy Azalea says a farm town upbringing never stunted her dream to be a hip hop success in America.
Azalea, 23, from Mullumbimby in northern NSW, is rap’s latest IT-girl after hits Work, Bounce and Change Your Life.
Her debut album, The New Classic, overseen by US music industry heavyweights T.I and Jimmy Iovine, is due in March.
“In Australia, because we don’t have such a big entertainment industry, I think people, on average, thinks it’s untouchable to have a big dream,” Azalea tells Confidential.
“Whether it’s rap or rock or entertainer, to say you want to be a humungous, people think it’s unachievable or laughable.”
Azalea has returned home to play as a support act in Beyonce’s national tour.
“In America, you can see a rapper who’s sold a million records at the mall any day. There, the dream looks achievable. It’s a reality.
“Here, our experiences with celebrities is more ‘I’m going to see her at the arena, then we see her, and she leaves’. It’s not part of our existence or life.
“That makes it seem like ‘Whoa, I can never do that. Maybe I should go to uni’.”
Azalea left Mullumbimby for Miami when she was 16.
After years of struggle, she ended up on the cover of hip hop bible XXL, and was quickly embraced by the Atlanta hip hop scene.
Asked how she impressed hard-to-please rappers, Iggy replies: “I’m an out of the box thinker … and I’m interesting.”
