Super Bass and Starships not going #1 was just bad timing. If she releases another catchy single like those again, I think she will go #1 eventually.
As far as Iggy's success, I think it's a combination of good timing, good people featuring on her singles, and being white. Being white is going to be a huge advantage for her in the long run. Anyone who doesn't think so hasn't been paying attention. Adele is the best selling artist around these days, yet she makes music that sounds like it came straight out of the black south. Just listen to Rumor Has It. I feel like I'm sitting in a black church listening to a black choir singing every time. You think anybody would've found her music as cool if it was a black woman? People would've just shrugged it off as a black woman doing black people music, but since Adele is white and blonde, all of a sudden her sound is "unique" and "groundbreaking."
It's not a coincidence that white artists like Justin Timberlake, Eminem, Adele and countless other artists before them like Elvis Presley got commercial and critical acclaim that black artists making the same genre of music never got.
