Iggy Azalea has turned the entertainment industry into a whirlwind since she stepped onto the scene in 2011, and since then, the popular star has gained recognition as a rapper, model, songwriter and controversial celebrity.
It’s no secret that she’s had her fair share of public feuds and altercations, but there’s a lot more than what meets the eye with this rapper.
So, let’s dive into 15 fun facts about Iggy Azalea that you may not have known until now…
1. Iggy Was Originally Part of a Band
When Iggy was growing up, she formed her own musical group with her friends and imagined that they would be the next TLC. “I was like, I could be the rapper. This could be like TLC. I’ll be Left Eye”, she told Rap-Up.
When she saw that her friends weren’t taking it as seriously as her, she quit the group and focused on a solo career. Great move, Iggz!
2. She Was a Rebellious Teen
Iggy was quite the rebel growing up, she often snuck out of the house and used a fake ID to go to strip clubs at just 13 years-old. The star also used to hitchhike, get drunk and sleep with older men who thought that she was of legal age due to her surroundings.
“I’d go out, get hammered off my face in nightclubs because I thought that made me an adult, meet older guys who thought I was older, and go f*ck them… Hitchhiking was something I would do all the time as a kid. When I was 14 I used to go to the red light district called Kings Cross and go to strip clubs,” she told Complex magazine.
3. Iggy’s a High-School Dropout
Iggy dropped out of high school at the age of 16. She revealed in an interview with Complex that she hated everything about it and only enjoyed going to art class.
“I hated everyone at school. I would come home at lunch and listen to music. That eventually led to me dropping out because I was missing so much school after sneaking home after lunch and never going back…The only classes I would go to at school were art classes and English classes. Everything else I would skip because I just hated it so bad.”
4. She Was Bullied at School
We know that high-school wasn’t a pleasant experience for Iggy, and one of the reasons was due to her being teased. Iggy claims that she had no friends and was teased for her homemade outfits. “I used to dress weird in elementary school and I used to get teased. I hated their guts, they hated mine.”
Iggy continued telling Complex that she was even physically bullied at high school, too – “I used to get my pants pulled down in 5th grade. As soon as I would stand up, someone would pull my pants down.” This perhaps explains why she gets so defensive with anything anyone says about her online today…
5. Iggy Had a Business Before Fame
Here’s some interesting trivia you certainly weren’t aware of! When Iggy dropped out of school, she got a job helping her mother clean hotel rooms and holiday houses. This ‘first job’ was so successful, Iggy ended up starting her own business. She then saved the money from her job and used it to flee to America and start her career. Which brings us to the next fact…
6. She Moved to America at 16 to Get Famous
Wondering how Iggy got famous? At the young age of 16, the Aussie starlet decided to move to the US to pursue her dreams. She packed her bags and didn’t tell her parents she was moving until she arrived in the States. Iggy then began working on her craft and moved to the South, where she picked up her notorious accent.
After a few run-ins with other record labels, she met with fellow rapper, T.I who took her under his wing. She first released her single Work, before dropping the hit track Fancy, which really put her on the music map!
7. Her Dog Inspired her Stage Name
Ever wondered what Iggy’s real name is? The rap star originally goes by the name ‘Amethyst Amelia Kelly’! But as revealed in a tweet, Iggy only allows certain people to title her Amethyst – “Only a VERY select group of people in my life are allowed to call me Amethyst. If I let you call me that you are elite.”
In fact, her stage name comes from her childhood dog called ‘Iggy’, combined with the street she grew up on, which was called ‘Azalea Street’. It really has a ring to it, doesn’t it?
8. She’s Feuded with Big Celebs
Other than music, Iggy is also known for her many celebrity feuds. Her first big bust-up was with Azealia Banks after the 212 rapper claimed she wrote P-U-$-$-Y before the Australian star. Later in 2014, Iggy feuded with Snoop Dogg after he posted a string of memes comparing her to the main character of the movie, White Chicks and a person with albinism.
Iggy then got into an altercation with Eminem after he released a diss-track joking about raping her and the following year, Iggy feuded with her mentor T.I. He revealed during a radio interview that “he walked away from the relationship after Q-Tip tried to teach Iggy about cultural appropriation in hip-hop music and her response was not ideal.”
9. Iggy Kept her Pregnancy a Secret
Iggy’s baby-reveal was the talk of the town in June 2020, when she surprisingly revealed that she’d given birth to her baby boy called Onyx in April. “I have a son. I kept waiting for the right time to say something but it feels like the more time passes the more I realise I’m always going to feel anxious to share news that giant with the world,” she wrote on Instagram.
“I want to keep his life private but wanted to make it clear he is not a secret and I love him beyond words.”
The baby daddy is of course Playboi Carti who she’d been dating since 2018, however the duo soon broke up after the rapper gave birth.
10. She Publicly Outed Cheating Playboi Carti
In December 2020, Iggy went all guns blazing on Twitter when she attacked her baby daddy for not spending Christmas with their 9-month-old son and instead being with the girl he cheated on her with.
“Imagine not flying out your family on Christmas but you have the girl you cheated on [me with] my entire pregnancy at your album party and magically me and my son can’t come for Christmas any more?”, Iggy wrote in a now-deleted tweet. Despite the scandalous beef with Playboi Carti, Iggy later took to social media to affirm that she and her ex had made up although they still remain separated.
11. Iggy Has a Net Worth of $6 Million
Fun fact? Iggy has a whooping net worth of $6 million. While she’s been quiet on the music front for a while, a lot of this cash comes from her hit singles as well as her feature on Ariana Grande’s track, Problems. Iggy has also worked on endorsements with Chloe, Benoît Missolin and more, boosting her net worth to the millions that it stands at today.
12. She Became a Permanent US Resident in 2018
When Iggy first arrived in America, she received her GED and resided in the country on a visa waiver for six years, where she had to return to Australia every six months to renew it. It wasn’t until 2018 that she got her official permanent residency in the country.
Her exciting announcement on Twitter however drew in the haters which demanded she get deported back to Australia. Iggy fought back by tweeting, “I’ve been here 12 years! only just got approved! been paying my fed & state taxes etc but can’t vote or have a say how it’s spent. Some people are SO miserable.”
“Y’all would be happy for me to get deported back to a country I only know 4 ppl in though!” She continued. “I worked hard.”
13. Her Favorite Food is Tacos
If you’ve ever wondered what type of food Iggy indulges in, then wonder no more. The star is a huge fan of hillbilly tacos – a flavorful creation made of a taco shell slathered in butter with minced meat and grated cheese. Sounds delish! If only we could maintain a great body like Iggy’s though. Speaking of a great body…
14. Iggy Denies Having Plastic Surgery
While Iggy only admits to having rhinoplasty and breast implants, (which she says she wasn’t going to reveal because she didn’t want people to think that they needed surgery like her), she has also been rumored to have bum implants, a chin implant and facial fillers.
The star insists that she hasn’t touched up other areas of her torso. She told Australian radio program Stav, Abby & Matt in 2017 – “No, I don’t have bum implants! They’re not my real boobs, but it is my real butt.”
15. She Matched The Beatles With her Billboard Record
Azalea is the only artist to achieve what The Beetles have achieved when it comes to the Billboard Hot 100 list. Iggy’s first two charting singles, Fancy and Problem ranked simultaneously in the first and second spot of the Billboard Hot 100 list – a great achievement that not many artists will accomplish.
16. She’s Outspoken About Cultural Appropriation
Iggy has been accused of cultural appropriation multiple times throughout her career, with many claiming she appropriates black culture in her music and image. The Fancy rapper however, never shies away from giving her thoughts on the controversial topic and once told Cosmopolitan, – “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 f***ing sorry about it.”
She continued, “You could ask one person of the same race, ‘Does this affect you?’ and they will say yes,” she said. ”But another person will say no. They could be from the same place, same everything, but have different perspectives about it.”“I would 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 institutionalised 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.”
This list of trivia and a deeper dive into the rap star’s life explains some of her provocative actions. But which Iggy Azalea fact are you most shocked about? Let us know by leaving a comment in the section below.
