For the past eight years readers of Headphone Commute have been exposed to my musings on ambient, electronic and experimental music, but I feel like I have been a little dishonest, holding back from my true joy and passion – the evolution of hip-hop, gangsta, and thug rap. It is why today I proudly announce a brand new direction for this tiny shy corner of the internet, with our very first coverage of my favorite style, kicking off with none other than the queen of the genre herself, Iggy Azalea, and the finest hidden gem from her celebrated catalog, Pu$$y. [Disclaimer: the author publicly acknowledges Iggy Azalea’s recent investment in this online publication, but her major stake holding shall not distort this editor’s perception.]
At only 24 years of age, Amethyst Amelia Kelly kicked off her hip hop career by moving to the United States from Australia, and picking up a new stage name. It is indeed Pu$$y that turned a few heads and ears, when the track came off her début mixtape, Ignorant Art (2011), and subsequently went viral as a music video, helping to propel the young rapper to prominence. In the next few turbulent years, Azalea gained notoriety via appearances and singles, until after a few conflicts she was finally picked up by Virgin EMI and Def Jam Recordings for her first studio album, The New Classic (2014). Although the rest, as we say here, is history [her story?], it is important to point out that Azalea became the first artist to join The Beatles as the only act to rank at numbers one and two simultaneously on Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Iggy Iggy pussy illy
Wetter than the Amazon
Taste this kitty
Silly Billy poppin’ pilly’s
Smoke it like a swisher
Lick this philly
On Pu$$y Azalea immediately addresses one of the most powerful forces in the known universe, by placing the dollar $igns smack in the middle of the title of the track. I’m talking here of course about money, the root of all evil. Over the next two illest stanzas on the planet, Azalea flawlessly weaves in abstract concepts dragging the listener into a dark, oozing cavern of her macrocosm. As you get sucked into this man-made black hole [editor’s note: please replace “black” with “Caucasian”], Skittles begin to shoot out in a kaleidoscopic rainbow of sound. And when one finally emerges on the other side of this dead beaten tunnel, one cannot help but collapse in exhaustion, dripping with jealousy, envy and hate. Azalea has done it again!
Azalea’s current advance to stardom is unstoppable, and I hope that in the many years to come you will appreciate this diamond in the rough (and indeed this very review), as the first attempt at bringing your attention to yet another small grain of sand in the ocean, that will inevitably become a very precious pearl. You just have to close your ears and squeeze…
Words by HC
