Keep Ya Head Up: Why Iggy Can’t Hang

Abby King

iggy-azalea-5.jpgCourtesy of Urban Splatter.

Whether you‰’d admit it or not, at some point this summer you were probably singing along to Iggy Azalea‰’s chart topping single “Fancy.” The song was pretty much unescapable, every time you turned on the radio you ran the risk of hearing the infectious Charli XCX hook or Iggy‰’s catchy, simplistic verses.

And sure it‰’s a fun song, easy to blast in your car, or loudly sing along to with your friends but even when I found myself doing just that, rapping along to lyrics like “I‰’m still in the murda business‰” and “gold trigger on the gun like‰” I had to acknowledge just how unauthentic those words sounded coming from Iggy‰’s mouth and what‰’s more how unauthentic Iggy‰’s whole demeanor and vocals came across.

Lying and exaggerating in hip hop to sound cool is nothing new, so what if Iggy has never been in the “murder business‰” or owned a gold-triggered gun? Some could say these lyrics are just an ode to her mentor and hip hop cosigner, T.I., who is widely acknowledged as the king of Atlanta and the southern sound.

But even if that is her reasoning and even if T.I. has invested in Iggy‰’s career does that give her a pass to be mimic the sound and style of traditional Southern hip hop? Generally speaking, people would agree that the real deal is almost always better than an imitation, why then is Iggy, who is from Australia, getting so many spins instead of a real deal Southern MC? Unfortunately the conclusion most people have come to is simple; because Iggy Azalea is white.

White appropriation of black music has been a part of the music industry, basically since the beginning. Essentially, black people invent styles and genres of music and the music industry then takes that style but replaces the artist with a ‰more marketable‰’ white musician. It is a sad truth rock stars like Elvis made a genre invented by African Americans mainstream, and thus, received all of the financial success.

This is a reality that black culture is very much aware of so it is no wonder many people are up in arms about Iggy‰’s rise to success. Hip hop is seen as the last genre that is not only predominantly black but predominantly a means of expressing the black perspective and struggle. It is not to say that hip hop is ‰black music‰’ and everything else is ‰white music‰’ I think most people would agree that music and artistry has no color and of course this is exactly how Iggy and her supporters respond to criticism. But what bothers myself and so many others about Iggy isn‰’t that she is rapping or even changing her voice while rapping but rather that she is copying a style and regional aesthetic that she has no ties to and thus making a caricature of it.

Eminem is also a white rapper, he is often considered one of the best rappers alive by both black and white listeners, and while there are some who claim his commercial success is due to his skin color very few people question his talent or authenticity.

This is because at no point has Eminem been anyone but himself (or Slim Shady) nor has he given anything but his own perspective and sound.

It would be nice if we could shake off race as an issue not just in music but in society, however that doesn‰’t seem to be happening anytime soon. In the meantime what we can do as consumers is reward authenticity in our music. Sure “Fancy” is easy to jam to, and Iggy is a beautiful girl but is she who we want as a representative for the Southern female MC? I think I‰’d prefer to hear an actual Southern female MC on my radio.