Iggy Azalea Australian Rapper From Sydney

Early life

Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Amelia Kelly on 7 June 1990 in Sydney, Australia, and grew up in Mullumbimby. Her father, Brendan Kelly, was a painter and comic artist, and her mother, Tanya, cleaned holiday houses and hotels. The family lived in a house that her father built from mud-bricks. She began rapping at 14. Her stage name combines the name of her childhood dog, Iggy, with Azalea Street, the road where she grew up.

She left school and saved money by cleaning hotel rooms and holiday houses with her mother. In 2006, shortly before she turned sixteen, she travelled to the United States, intending to work in hip hop, and stayed. She later completed a General Educational Development certificate there. She obtained a five-year O visa in February 2013 and was approved for permanent residence in 2018.

Career

In her first years in the United States she lived in Miami, briefly in Houston, and then in Atlanta, where she worked with Backbone of the rap collective Dungeon Family. In 2010 she moved to Los Angeles. On 27 September 2011 she released the mixtape Ignorant Art, and videos for songs from it, including "Pussy" and "Two Times", found an audience on YouTube. In 2012 she appeared in the XXL Freshman list and signed with T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records. That year she released the extended play Glory and the mixtape TrapGold, and she supported Rita Ora and Tyga on tour. In February 2013 she signed with Mercury Records and in April with Island Def Jam. She toured as an opening act for Nas and for Beyonce in 2013.

Her debut album, The New Classic, was released on 21 April 2014. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and later topped the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making her the first non-American female rapper to do so. Its single "Fancy", featuring Charli XCX, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 2014. In the same week "Problem", a single by Ariana Grande on which she was featured, stood at number two, so she held the top two positions of the chart at once. Another single from the album, "Black Widow" with Rita Ora, peaked at number three. A reissue, Reclassified, followed in November 2014 and included the single "Trouble". She also featured on Jennifer Lopez's "Booty" that year.

In April 2015 she made her acting debut in the film Furious 7, in the part of a girl race driver, and she contributed to its soundtrack. She released "Pretty Girls" with Britney Spears in May 2015. A planned second album, Digital Distortion, was cancelled after disputes with her record label. She became a judge on the Australian series The X Factor in 2016, and in 2018 appeared in the series Follow This. Singles from these years include "Team" (2016), "Mo Bounce" and "Switch" (2017) and "Savior" (2018).

After signing with Island Records she released the EP Survive the Summer in August 2018, then left the label in November 2018 and set up her own company. Her second studio album, In My Defense, was released independently in July 2019, followed by the EP Wicked Lips in December 2019 and a third studio album, The End of an Era, in 2021. In 2022 she sold her music catalogue to Domain Capital. In 2024 she announced that she was retiring from music, saying she was more passionate about design and creative direction than songwriting. Her business ventures include the production company Azalea Street Productions and the mobile service Unreal Mobile.

Recognition

In 2014 Azalea won the American Music Award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album, for The New Classic, and the MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video. She received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2015, one of four Grammy nominations at that ceremony. Altogether 2 wins and 13 nominations are recorded for her in the awards records used for this profile, including nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards and MTV Europe Music Awards. She also won the 2014 ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist and the People's Choice Award for Favorite Hip-Hop Artist in 2015. She was the first female and first non-American rapper on the XXL Freshman list.

Personal life

Azalea has a son, born in 2020.