Iggy Azalea
Iggy Azalea,born Amethyst Amelia Kelly, is an Australian rapper who gained popularity in the U.S. in 2014 with her hit song “Fancy”. However, despite her mainstream success, from the start of her rap career, Iggy has been criticized for using a blaccent, or a black accent, in her music.
In 2016, the Washington Post posted a deep dive into how Iggy “mastered her blaccent.” At the time, Iggy explained why she uses a fake American accent, particularly a Black one, when making her music.
“Do you not like me because I rap with an American accent and I’m not American? Well, that’s valid on some level because that’s your opinion and I can’t change that,” Azalea told Elle Canada.
“But I’m not trying to sound black — I just grew up in a country where on TV and in music and film, everyone was American or any Australian person in them put on an American accent. So I never saw it as strange at all.”
Years later in 2021, Iggy was accused of “blackfishing” in her music video for her single “I Am The Strip Club.”, via The Daily Beast. At the start of the video, Iggy can be seen sporting jet-black hair and boasting a skin tone noticeably several shades darker than her normally fair complexion. To make matters worse, she’s surrounded by Black queer men dressed in leather while she raps about getting ratchet and twerking.
At this point, Iggy is well aware of the criticism she receives for using a “blaccent” and has suffered a hit to her rap career because of the cultural appropriation claims. Rapper T.I. even admitted to seemingly regretting signing the Australian rapper to his Grand Hustle record label and said he wanted to “undo the blunder of Iggy Azalea.”
