She said people would laugh at her because "they thought my raps sucked." But having grown up getting laughed at, she was able to shrug it off. She took her stage name from the name of her childhood dog, Iggy, and the street she grew up on, Azalea Street, where her family lives to this day. During that period, she met future collaborators FKi and Natalie Sims. Azalea settled for a few years in Atlanta, Georgia, working with a member of the Dungeon Family named Backbone. When she first arrived in the United States in 2006, she stayed in Miami, Florida, and afterwards lived briefly in Houston, Texas. Following a slew of moderately successful singles, Azalea released the EP Survive the Summer (2018).Īs of 5 December 2018, Azalea's official YouTube channel has accumulated 2.6 billion views, while she has had 13 music videos receive over 100 million views on Vevo. She achieved three top-ten hits simultaneously on the Hot 100 with the aforementioned songs along with the album's fifth single, "Black Widow", later that year. Azalea joined The Beatles as the only acts to rank at numbers one and two simultaneously with their first two Hot 100 entries. Azalea was featured on Ariana Grande's single "Problem", which peaked at No. The album was preceded by her debut single "Work", and generated the US Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single "Fancy". It topped the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums making Azalea the first non-American female rapper to reach the top of the chart. 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 mix tape titled Ignorant Art.Īzalea's debut studio album, The New Classic (2014), peaked among the top five of several charts worldwide and received generally mixed reviews. She earned public recognition after releasing music videos for her songs "Pu$$y" and "Two Times" on YouTube. Her stage name, from the masculine Egnatius, comes from the name of her dog and the street she lived on. Azalea moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a career in music, and has since resided in Los Angeles. Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea is an Australian rapper, singer, songwriter, model and television personality.