The Stunning Transformation Of Iggy Azalea
Born Amethyst Amelia Kelly, Iggy Azalea has been making headlines for nearly a decade with her star-studded relationships and hit songs. After debuting her mixtapes in the early 2010s, she gained a lot of attention with her biting lyrics. Soon after her meteoric rise, she fell from grace, being accused of cultural appropriation and having singles falling flat. Between Grammy nominations, star-studded romances, and everything in-between, Iggy Azalea has become a household name for millennials and Gen Z alike (via Biography).
She made a huge splash on the music scene with hits like "Bounce," "Fancy," and "Problem" to name a few. She's collaborated with many artists throughout her career such as Ariana Grande, Tinashe, Rita Ora, Tyga, and more (via Discogs). Despite everything that's happened, she's still credited as one of the most successful female rappers in recent music (via Biography). But not everyone who loves her music knows how the Australian star got started.
Azalea dropped out of school to move to Florida
Azalea's childhood was just as crazy, if not more so, than her adulthood. She was born on June 7, 1990, to parents Brendan Kelly, a painter and comic artist, and Tanya, a house and hotel cleaner. Her father encouraged her to get into the arts at a young age. She became interested in hip-hop at age 11, and started pursuing it at age 14 in a group with two other girls (via Famous People).
The Australian native dropped out of school at 16, wanting to move to Miami, Florida on her own, where she eventually got her GED. In an interview with E! Online, she said, "I felt like Florida was for me. I had heard about the craziness and I felt like that was the state I should go to." When she moved there, she worked cleaning houses full-time before getting into music.
2014 shot Iggy Azalea into superstardom
In 2010, Azalea moved to Los Angeles and released her first few mixtapes called "Ignorant Art" and "TrapGold." It wasn't until 2014 that she shot into superstardom with her critically acclaimed album, "The New Classic," which included her single "Fancy" which was number one for seven weeks straight. She then collaborated with Ariana Grande on another smash hit, "Problem" (via The Famous People).
In 2014, she broke records left and right, becoming the first artist since the Beatles to take the top two spots on the chart simultaneously, according to Mic.
While she was on the rise, she admitted she was scared getting into the hip-hop business as a white woman to The Guardian. "I have never had any musicians tell me that I wasn't authentic for being white and Australian. Not one. Even I had a warped perception of how I would be received in this business." She continued saying, "What I've come to realize is that it's the people who write about music — or who are outside it in some way — who have a problem with what I am doing. The only true insiders are the musicians themselves." But as Mic put it, her rise brought the topic of cultural appropriation into mainstream, something still heavily discussed today.
She's poked fun at herself for past plastic surgery
As her fame rose, Azalea's personal life became the forefront of the news instead of her music. Azalea went through a lot of external changes, which caught the attention of fans. She's admitted to having breast implants and a nose job, according to Plastic Surgery People. Far from being shy about the procedures, Azalea is more than willing to poke fun at herself, as noted by Daily Mail.
Plastic surgery wasn't the only thing landing Azalea on gossip sites. She also dated a series of other celebs. One of Iggy's most written-about relationships was with basketball player Nick Young. The pair even got engaged, though she broke off the relationship after discovering he had cheated on her (via The Things). She also had a long relationship with Playboi Carter, who became the father of her child, though they split in 2020, per Whos Dated Who.
Unfortunately, her more recent musical output hasn't received the success or acclaim of "The New Classic". The low sales of her 2019 album "In My Defense" led Azalea to proclaim she felt "defeated" (per Daily Mail).
On 2020, she became a mom to her first son, Onyx
Despite having recent poor sales, Azalea is working on her comeback. In the summer of 2020, Azalea announced her upcoming third studio album, "End of an Era," and has released several singles within the past year. Azalea released the lead single, "Dance Like Nobody's Watching", in collaboration with Tinashe, in August of 2020 (via Billboard). Afterward, she released a single named "Sip It" with former flame Tyga, per Complex. And longtime fans have been itching for more.
As for her personal life, she's become a mom to a beautiful baby boy named Onyx in June of 2020. The two have been all over Azalea's Instagram, and the mother/son pair is absolutely adorable (via People). Unfortunately, Azalea claims that Onyx's father, Playboi Carter, hasn't been sufficiently present in his son's life, per Complex. Still, Azalea is clearly obsessed with her son, recently sharing photos on Instagram of his first birthday.