Aussie rapper Iggy Azalea has had some of the highest highs and lowest lows of 2014. A swag of music gongs, award nominations and critical acclaim was grubbed by public sledgings and verbal spats with just about every high-profile artist in the music industry. But never one to mince words, the MC from Mullumbimby has unleashed in an interview with Vanity Fair, opening up about some of the most controversial issues dogging her otherwise stellar career.
We’ve put together a list of highlights from the tell-all Q&A, which saw Iggy speak candidly about a range of hot topics, from race and misogyny… to fame, shoes and sex tapes.
On The Whole ‘Being White’ Thing
Iggy told Vanity Fair that, while there are some people who think it’s a bit ‘strange’ for a white Australian girl to become a rapper, she’s never shared that mindset: “I never thought it was strange. If you go back to the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley and Eminem—they’ve all basically done black music. I felt this wasn’t that far from what we’ve seen in music history over and over again.”
On Not Having a Penis
Iggy also lashed out at critics who have targeted her – not just for her race, but for her gender: “They don’t say that stuff about Macklemore. So, yes, I think it has 100,000 percent to do with the fact that I have a vagina.”
On The Death Of Twerking
“Sometimes things become part of pop culture, but they run their course. I think it’s time for it to be over.”
On The Truth Behind Those Sex Tape Rumours
“Every week I have some sort of crisis that involves the Internet. I do not have a sex tape; I would remember if I had a sex tape. But if I did have a sex tape it would be completely fucking fine and my own business.”
On Her ‘Not Cool’ Side
“I’m a homebody. I already did all my wild shit. And that will wear you out. I’m glad I did all that early, because now I have so much to talk about in my music, and I don’t have to worry that I’m going to spiral out of control.”
On How Her Footwear Wasn’t Always So ‘Fancy’
Iggy admitted to Vanity Fair that she once owned just a single pair of shoes for two whole years: “I did, and the leather would wear off and I would colour them in with a marker to keep them looking black. I’m doing a shoe collaboration with Steve Madden now—when I first came to America I thought the Steve Madden brand was the pinnacle of high fashion, because the shoes were $200. And I thought, Who the fuck has $200 to buy shoes?”
On How Fancy Changed Her Life
“In every possible way. Some bad, some good. I can’t walk down the street anymore, and I have to be very selective when I grocery shop. I went from having nothing to having everything I could possibly want. It’s weird. It’s almost scarily easy to quickly forget that you had nothing.”
