She’s the Rap belle with a star that continues to rise by way of the inspirational jam that was ‘Work‘.
Unfortunately, in falling prey to a trap oft set for many of today’s newbies, the last year has seen Iggy Azalea become more renown for her relationship than fashion with music- upping her celebrity stock but doing all of nothing to secure a fan base strong enough to ensure her debut album doesn’t slip, slide and shatter upon release.
Not helped by the fact that her interviews oft see her come across as cocky, her struggle to establish herself a commercially potent act got that much harder this week- upon the release of her spread in the October edition of ‘Paper Magazine’.
A spread, that should have sold the performer as an endearing and ambitious newcomer, focusing on her brand new single ‘Change Your Life‘.
A single, that was mentioned only once in a piece we’d say is all too telling of Iggy’s predicament.
Excerpt from the spread read:
“Azalea, an Australian native who towers at nearly six feet in heels and looks like she could take down Katniss Everdeen, projects the air of a woman who knows what she wants, and how to get it. We sit down to have dinner at the Standard’s restaurant, and the waiter arrives to take our order.”
“I’ll have the grilled cheese with pesto sauce on the side,” Azalea says. Grilled cheese is not on the menu.
“I’ll see what I can do,” the waiter says with a stammer. “But I don’t think we have pesto.” Azalea looks at the waiter dead in the eyes. “You know what?” he says, taking our menus. “I think I can find some pesto sauce.”
“If Azalea comes across as demanding, she’s earned the right. On the night before our interview in L.A., she was in New York, promoting her upcoming major-label debut LP, The New Classic. On the following night, she’ll be performing in Honolulu. Two nights after that, she’ll be back in New York City at MTV’s Video Music Awards, presenting the Best Hip-Hop Video award with Lil’ Kim (Azalea lost the Artist to Watch award to Bieber-clone Austin Mahone that night). She’s racking up more frequent-flyer miles than George Clooney in Up in the Air. If anybody embodies the maxim “write what you know,” it’s Azalea; her breakthrough single off The New Classic is titled “Work.”
Azalea stands at the forefront of social-media savvy hip-hop stars. She’s massively popular online — if you add up her followers on Twitter, Vine and Instagram, it’s more people than the population of Dallas, Texas.
All of this Internet exposure has created a wave of Azalea admirers and imitators, including twerk-obsessed Miley Cyrus. “I’ve been doing that onstage for two-and-a-half years,” Azalea says of Cyrus’ recent forays into the ass-grinding dance craze. “She probably fucking watched my videos online and decided to try it.“
“With her songs climbing the charts, now all Azalea wants is to be left alone. “Every restaurant should be only private rooms,” she says, taking a sip of her Arnold Palmer, surveying the scene at the Standard. “I went on a date recently, and I tried to get us a private table at [Beverly Hills steakhouse] Mastro’s, and they were like, ‘You’ll have to pay us at least $2,500.’ And I was like, ‘Nah.’ But I felt embarrassed to go on a date, because that’s lame.”
See what we mean?
Yes, while it’s true that ‘Paper’ is a fashion and lifestyle outlet, it’s pretty sad that the above did more to sell Iggy‘s lifestyle than the music she’ll need to sustain it.
Though her comments on Miley were probably made in jest, they do shed light on the false sense of popularity the MC seems to have adopted when assessing herself- perhaps unaware that those kinds of remarks can oft spell PR hell for an act of her standing.
We hate to go in on act as gifted as Iggy, but we’re sure we aren’t the only ones repelled by the entitled attitude and how much effort isn’t going in to pushing her artistry.
From where we’re standing, it’s high time Ms. Azalea stepped away from the runway or face the same shame tied to Kreayshawn and sales of her ill fated debut.
Peep her interview with the publication in full here!