It has been five years since Iggy Azalea released her debut album “The New Classic” and just as long since she’s been nominated at the Grammys. But she hasn’t won yet. Will she prevail with her followup, “In My Defense,” which dropped on July 19?
In 2014 “The New Classic” was preceded by the single “Fancy” featuring Charli XCX, which spent seven weeks at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It was named Song of the Summer by Billboard and subsequently earned Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
However, she lost Record to Sam Smith‘s “Stay with Me” and Pop Duo/Group to A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera‘s collaboration “Say Something.” She also lost Best New Artist to Sam Smith, and “The New Classic” was beaten for Best Rap Album by Eminem‘s “The Marshall Mathers LP 2.”
So why did it take so long for her to release another studio album? At first she delayed it because of her split from her fiance in 2016. Then she signed with Island Records and released the EP “Survive the Summer” with in 2018. Then she left Island and struck out on her own to create the independent label Bad Dreams, and released “In My Defense” through a distribution deal with Empire.
It’s been a long and winding road for the Australian rapper, but since she last appeared on the Grammy scene hip-hop has made a few breakthroughs. In 2019 Cardi B became the first female solo artist to win Best Rap Album, and Childish Gambino‘s “This is America” became the first hip-hop song to win Record of the Year and Song of the Year. So perhaps the door is open for Azalea to take home her first prizes.
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