Iggy Azalea defends 'Speaking Black' thinks her haters are "retarded"


Despite two years of non-stop buzz, Iggy Azalea has yet to score a hit (or even chart on the Hot 100, for that matter). Team Iggy’s trying to fix that with the Aussie rapper’s latest single, “Change Your Life,” which currently has a big promotional push behind it. That brings us to Iggy’s naked Complex cover shoot, which sees the 22-year-old going for a Bettie Page-meets-Pamela Anderson look.

The cover comes with a semi-scandalous interview, in which Iggy admits to having sex with older men when she was 13 and addresses the controversy around her American accent. This is about the millionth time that the Mullumbimby-born rapstress has had to comment on her authenticity, but it continues to remain a hot topic with the media, regardless.

Race has been an issue since you first got noticed as the tall blonde who rapped. Did you understand that some people in the U.S. would think you were fake?

Yeah, but it’s retarded. The Rolling Stones go to America, play “black” blues music, and nobody has a ****ing issue with it or thinks it’s weird. But here we are, 50 years later, in the 21st century, and people are like, “This is so weird that you’re white, from another country, and you like black music.” Why is it not weird for Keith Richards or Mick Jagger, but it’s so weird and taboo for me? Do you think a kid liking my music is gonna make rap music some other thing, or that all of a sudden nobody’s gonna like Scarface?
In a country where “speaking black” has been a hindrance in almost every profession but rap, do you see how a white person making money in rap by adopting this accent could ruffle feathers?

If you’re mad about it and you’re a black person then start a rap career and give it a go, too. I’m not taking anyone’s spot, so make yourself a mixtape. Or maybe if you’re black, start singing like a country singer and be a white person. I don’t know. Why is it such a big deal?
This is the entertainment industry. It’s not politics. You should be more concerned about the message, not the voices saying it.

Have you ever rapped with your Australian accent?
Never. It feels weird to me. It’s the inflection at the end of a sentence when I take a breath. Obviously there are people who rap in all kinds of accents. But for me, rapping is like singing: The breath patterns aren’t the same as when I’m talking, so it’s easier to change into whatever I want. I couldn’t talk in an American accent—I could, but it would sound very fake—but I can rap in one with no problem.
Of course I’ve asked myself, “Does that make me fake?” I don’t think the voice makes me fake; it makes me an artist. Voice is my medium. I should have creative rein to do whatever the **** I want with it. (Via Complex)

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Preach Queen.

I am starting to like her again she STAYS keeping **** real & classy.

I dislike her voice, but nothing is more annoying than "you talk black/white/etc." A ghetto accent isn't "black." I hate that people would even say she has a "black voice."

DRAG.

out of the new female rappers, Iggy is definitely the best.

Shes completely right though, i lova ha

YASS. I hope Azealia reads this

Love her even more now

There's so many things wrong with what she just said.

If you’re mad about it and you’re a black person then start a rap career and give it a go, too. I’m not taking anyone’s spot, so make yourself a mixtape. Or maybe if you’re black, start singing like a country singer and be a white person. I don’t know. Why is it such a big deal?

The big deal is that you're mocking a culture. Are people who wear blackface just being in their creative rein?

LOVE HER

Please stop. You're interpenetrating it wrong.

This is probably the first time I've read an interview and been a little grossed out by what she's saying.

I'm not trying to interpret her I just don't think its funny or cool for someone to all of a sudden sound like an African American. Like where the **** did it come from?

But isn't your username reference to “Slim Shady“, a hip-hop song written by a White rapper... Please, just escort yourself back to tumblr where ridiculousness like this thrives.

How is she mocking a culture by being a part of it? She's not wearing blackface and those aren't remotely the same things or even comparable, is that the only comeback to a white person's existence in a culture where African-Americans are predominant?

Is Paul Wall mocking a culture? Riff Raff? They're both from Houston and they talk how they talk because of where they grew up, not because of the color of their skin...

She moved to America when she was 16 and lived in Miami, Atlanta, and Houston that's where.

Edit: And it wasn't "all of a sudden", she sounds the same in everything that she's ever come out with.

AND I don't know what an African-American "sounds" like, I wasn't aware they all talked the same way, but good job on the generalization and stereotype rolled into one.