Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), better known by her stage name Iggy Azalea (/əˈzeɪljə/), is an Australian singer, songwriter, model and television personality. Born in Sydney and raised in Mullumbimby, Azalea moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a career in hip hop music, and has since resided in Los Angeles. Her stage name, from the masculine Egnatius, comes from the name of her dog and the street she lived on. She earned public recognition after releasing music videos for her songs "Pu$$y" and "Two Times" on YouTube. In 2012, Azalea signed a recording contract with Grand Hustle Records, which is owned by American rapper T.I., after gaining attention from her first full-length project, a mixtape titled Ignorant Art.
Iggy Azalea Rapper - Date of Birth 7 June 1990, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Birth Name Amethyst Amelia Kelly
Nickname Iggy Iggs
Height 5' 10" (1.78 m)
Mini Bio (1) Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Amelia Kelly, in Sydney, Australia. Her family later relocated to Mullumbimby, New South Wales, when she was still an infant, into a house on 12 acres that her father built by hand from mud bricks. Her father was a painter and comics artist, while her mother cleaned holiday houses and hotels. Azalea says her father "made her look at art as a teenager", which has always influenced her life and work. Azalea began rapping at age 14. Before embarking on a solo career, Azalea formed a group with two other girls from her neighbourhood.
In pursuit of her desire of moving to America, Azalea dropped out of high school; instead choosing to work and save the money she earned by cleaning hotel rooms and holiday houses with her mother. She claims to have hated school, which, besides her art class, only made her miserable. She also said she had no friends and was teased for her homemade outfits. Azalea traveled to the United States in 2006, right before she turned 16. She told her parents she was going "on a holiday" with a friend, but eventually decided to stay and shortly after told them she was not coming back home. After her arrival in America, she resided in the U.S. on a visa waiver for six years, leaving the country every three months to renew it. She is currently in the country on a five-year O visa, having previously earned money illegally.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Trivia (5) Ranked #96 on Maxim's "Hot 100" of 2014 list.
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Azalea is considered a protégé of rapper T.I..
Was engaged to professional basketball player Nick Young [June 1, 2015 to June 19, 2016].
Took her stage name from her childhood dog, Iggy, and Azalea Street, the street in Australia on which she grew up.
Is the only other act besides The Beatles to rank numbers one and two simultaneously with her first two entries on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Personal Quotes (46) I hated school so bad. I only liked art class during high school. I was always smart.
I love purple because my name is Amethyst.
I always say: 'Share your happiness with the world, give other people that happiness and let it come back,' but some things make me question it. I don't know if I want some people to know that I am happy. I think a lot of people want to take it away from you, and that's really scary.
I naturally want to be provocative.
Music is art to me, and you don't censor art. You don't go into a museum and censor things.
I like 'Ab Fab;' I love the crazy stuff they wear. That's my favourite! I love 'Ab Fab.'
I think most music provides the same messages - whether it be 'I'm unhappy' or 'I love a girl.' I just liked the package of rap music.
For me, visuals are as important as the music. I just love escapism and giving people something to escape to. To me, that's what art is.
I do absolutely nothing, actually, believe it or not. People will probably hate me for saying that, but I guess I'm one of those lucky horrible people who, no matter what I eat, I don't gain a pound. My whole family is just like that. They're all skinny and tall, and I guess, so am I.
Luxury lives in the finer details. It's a cloth napkin at a dinner table. It's a mint on your pillow before bed.
I think that music is still art, even if it's commercialised.
I think music talks to you on an emotional level, regardless of where you're from. I guess I related to the tempo of rap, the aggressiveness.
Being talked about like a package - I feel like that all the time.
As far as people whose style interests me, I'd say Grace Kelly, Gwen, Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham, and that nanny called Fran.
My real name is Amethyst. It sounds like a stage name. My mom is kind of crazy.
I was a kid watching music videos, which were so cool and made me want to learn how to dance. I wish I could've gone to dance classes and learn, like, hip-hop dancing.
We don't really watch basketball in Australia.
There's an obligation to not lead people down the wrong path, but I hardly think me wearing short shorts on stage is creating monsters.
Not every artist is a role model.
I'd known since about eleven that I wanted to live in America.
'Iggy' was my dog - he was named after Iggy Pop - and 'Azalea' is the street where I grew up; together, they have the right amount of syllables to make the perfect name.
I think you can say anybody uses anything as a gimmick. Is Adele's not having gimmicks her gimmick? It's hard to say, isn't it? Really, I think that everybody has something that people like or that's great about them.
I think stupid people are surprised that I'm Australian. It's a small-minded; we live in a global community, but I suppose some people still are small-minded.
I didn't have cable television growing up; there were only six channels you could watch then. The only really good channel was channel 10, and they would play 'The Nanny Called Fran' every night for years. I've seen every episode 100 times. I would get my Grandma to make me leopard skin dresses on her sewing machine.
I'm a pretty chill and easygoing person; most people in Australia are, as well. I don't think I ever really saw a lot of fights growing up. I think it's hard to get people in Australia angry and want to fight, minus one or two people in the media... but we won't say any names.
People think I'm more wild than I am... I like going to theme parks, play sports or just hanging out with my friends.
My management team are all women. Most of the people at labels I liaise with are all women. It's pretty much all women all the time.
I'm irrational about all things creative, and I'm always late!
I started rapping since, like, 14. But I've been obsessed with rap from when I was 11. I heard 'Baby Don't Cry,' I'll never forget.
I love musk oil. There's something about musk that makes it memorable without being overpowering.
I always felt really alone because no one wanted to talk about the things that I enjoyed, and that was really rap music and hip-hop as a culture. You know, having the shoes, using the words, buying the magazines, seeing the videos. And I had nobody to share it with, so I feel like I lived a lot online.
A lot of people heard 'Murda Business' and thought it was about killing people, trying to be tough and hardcore. If you actually listen to the lyrics, it's kind of silly and playful.
As a child, I remember my dad would sometimes drive me into town with him to play pinball machines together. It's a bittersweet memory but also a favorite.
There are many females in my life I couldn't function on a daily basis without who I've purposely put there that work with me.
T.I.'s my mentor; he's a really close friend of mine. I call him my brother like we talk on the phone all the time. He's helped me with my career.
I think some people think I'm, like, anti-label, and I'm not. I just wanted to sign a deal when the time was right. I'm anti being shot out of a rocket when you're not ready and the songs and image aren't there.
I really like 'Roar' and 'Dark Horse.' 'Dark Horse' I really like, and I feel I would sing that in the bathroom; I would buy that album, and I think Katy Perry's amazing!
I never feel with the fashion stuff that it's too fake. If I was a model and had a working part in Fashion Week, then I might feel like that, but I'm just a visitor. I really only walk in and watch the shows and think, 'Maybe I could wear that in a video.' I meet the designer, say hello, and then I go.
I feel like 'Work' was a really good song for people to get to know me, as it's obviously biographical. With 'Bounce,' I wanted to make sure people know there's a fun side to me as well as the somber and serious one.
I always thought that there was something in hip-hop culture that was the misfit of all the musical styles, where they didn't really belong. They're kind of like, 'No, we're a real culture! We're not going anywhere, you can't get rid of us!' I really liked that there was a rebelliousness about it. I connected with that.
People criticize you for trying new things. I think, 'I'm new! I'm 22!' I don't know exactly what my sound is or what I want my album to sound like, so I'm not releasing it yet. While I'm experimenting, I'll let you in on the journey, and you can hear it for free.
It's different, it's weird to say, 'She's a white rapper or she can't do this because she's this color - this color does this thing. These are the boxes we have, this is what it is, don't try to change it.' And it's crazy to me because I'm just not from that world, so I can't really rock with it all the way.
I've never heard a man in a suit tell me what to wear; that's not their forte. You hire your stylist; whatever someone's image is as an artist is what they've chosen to portray.
I've been a little bit Las Vegas and casino-obsessed. So, I love some trashy glamour... and I think nothing's trashier or more glamorous than a bit of a sheer number!
I'd dropped out of high school without really doing it on purpose - I'd just go home at lunch 'cos I didn't have friends, then stay there all afternoon listening to rap. It got to the point where I wouldn't have passed even if I'd gone back. I was depressed, basically.
They say I'm insane because I need to have so much creative control. They say I'm unmanageable, but I'm not. I just know what I like. I'm obsessed with it. If you can't control it, that's like having somebody else paint your pictures. How could you do that? I never could.