Amethyst Amelia Kelly (b. June 7, 1990), better known by her stage name Iggy Azalea, is an Australian rapper and songwriter signed to Island Records and Roc Nation. After being raised in a small town called Mullumbimby and feeling like an outsider, in 2006, at the age of 16, she moved to the United States to pursue a career in hip hop music, stating that she was drawn to the birthplace of rap, and resided in the Southern part of the country.
Moving from Miami to Houston to Atlanta, Iggy absorbed the Southern-style drawl of her surroundings and released her debut project, a mixtape titled Ignorant Art in September 2011, shortly after relocating to Los Angeles. Iggy commented that she made it “with intent to make people question and redefine old ideals.” The project’s raw electronic sound accentuated her unique style that would become a trademark throughout her career. Prior to the release of the mixtape, she had been sharing several home videos on her YouTube channel as an underground rapper and her debut music video for “Pu$$y” quickly went viral due to its explicit nature. In 2012, Iggy became the first female and the first non-American rapper to be featured on XXL’s annual Freshman Class cover issue.
Iggy then aligned herself with the self-proclaimed “King of the South” T.I., who executive produced her free EP Glory released in July 2012 through his Grand Hustle imprint, which included their popular collaboration “Murda Bizness”. Later that year, she was featured on the Hustle Gang Cypher at the BET Hip Hop Awards. In October 2012, Iggy released her second mixtape TrapGold, produced entirely by Diplo and 1st Down of FKi. In the following year, she was selected as the tour opening act for the likes of Beyoncé and Nas.