Iggy Azalea Thinks Cultural Appropriation Is Subjective

August 7, 2019 / Posted by:

Aside from breaking sex news, Cosmopolitan is also providing you with an easy exercise you can do from the comfort of your chair, which is to roll your eyes while reading about Iggy Azalea’s thoughts on cultural appropriation.

Iggy Azalea is promoting In My Defense, her first album since 2014’s The New Classic. Some people might know Iggy for rapping, her messy personal life, surgeries, songs that will make your ears bleed, struggles with her label, money issues, or the results you’ll get if you search the words “Iggy Azalea problematic.” Iggy’s identity is…to put it lightly, somewhat complicated. Iggy is a white woman from Australia who moved to the U.S., transferred some fat to her ass, and started rapping with a fake accent. At least it sounds like a fake accent in the brief moments you’re able to understand what she’s saying. But in general, Iggy’s been accused of blatantly and shamelessly copying black culture. In 2013, Complex asked about Iggy’s accent, and she replied:

“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.”

You might think that going from Billboard hits and collaborations with A-list artists to cancelled tours and run-ins with the Cash Me Ousside Girl would have humbled Iggy a bit. Well, you’d be a little right.

“You could ask one person of the same race, ‘Does this affect you?’ and they will say yes. But another person will say no. They could be from the same place, same everything, but have different perspectives about it. I’m still going to make the same type of music and still be ridiculous and larger than life. So I can’t be that fucking sorry about it.”

But she would like you to know that when she was saying the kind of stuff she said to Complex six years ago, she was fully aware of racism and white privilege.

“I [used to] hit back and say, ‘What about this that I had to go through?’ because I wanted to talk so much about my experiences of things I didn’t have, and I think it felt like I wasn’t acknowledging that there is white privilege and there is institutionalized racism. It seemed to a lot of people like I was living in this bubble or unaware of all these things that people have to experience.”

But it sounds like she’s at least a little self aware. Very little.

“There’s a part of me that doesn’t necessarily dispute everything I’ve said. But I definitely feel like, Who the fuck is that person? It’s that time in your life when you think, I’m a real grown-up and I know everything, and you can’t tell me shit.”

So 2013 Iggy would have responded to accusations of cultural appropriation with some vaguely racist comments (which is actually pretty on brand for 2013 Iggy). But 2019 Iggy isn’t so confrontational, and would probably just shrug her shoulders when you accuse her of acting like a living audition for Malibu’s Most Wanted.

Pic: Eric Ray Davidson/Cosmopolitan

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