Iggy Azalea - The New Classic

Whenever journalists quiz Australian rapper Iggy Azalea about her Twitter ‘feud’ with near-namesake Azealia Banks, she has tended to take the high road: haters gonna hate, better to be positive than surrender to snark etc etc. So it’s a surprise that she sounds so angry on her (much delayed) debut album – throwing down kiss-offs to journalists who didn’t hype her back in the day, telling rival rhymers exactly where they can get off (hint: it involves swivelling on her middle finger). This is all just a little bit obvious. In addition, one has to contend with Azalea’s often stilted flow, rendered in an lacquer-hard American accent that obscures her upbringing in small-town New South Wales (in conversation she sounds as Australian as Kylie necking a Fosters atop Ayers Rock). You know what? She still comes up trumps, because, as a marshaller of big pop payoffs, Azalea really is top rank. There’s a twinkling cameo from UK singer / producer Charlie XCX on the slippery, seductive ‘Fancy’; meanwhile, the karate-kicking ‘New Bitch’ and ‘Black Widow’ (a collab with Rita Ora) confirm that Azalea fares best when her flow is paired with chart-friendly production. The New Classic doesn’t quite live up to the braggadocio of its title. As an opening salvo, however, it is fascinating and often very compelling indeed...