Courtesy of The Women Of Hip Hop
Kaitlin Banks
Staff Writer
Iggy Azalea is breaking the mold of hip hop one step at a time.The white female rapper released her debut album, The New Classic, today and is generating a lot of talk.
In 2011, the 23-year-old Australian started to gain recognition. Her song, “Pu$$y” went viral, and in 2013 she was signed to Island Def Jam records. But it’s not just her talent and willingness to be different that has people talking, it’s her views on homosexuality.
Usually when someone’s views on homosexuality make the news, it’s because they do not support the gay community. But when said person is a pro-gay rapper, it’s quite the opposite.
It’s no secret that the hip hop community has not been very accepting of the gay community, which is a reason why Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love” was so groundbreaking. But Azalea’s views do not line up with most other artists’ views in her genre. She is very outspoken about her frustrations with homophobia, saying it “comes from ignorance and homophobes not being around enough gay people.” Azalea even says that men in her genre “have this notion that a gay man is going to come and make them gay or try to have sex with them, and I always think that’s so weird.” But even if the majority of the hip hop genre still holds on to homophobic views, Azalea believes it won’t be long before a gay rapper breaks into the mainstream.
The rapper has even been faced with the question of whether or not she is gay herself. She wants to set the record straight: she’s not a “fake lesbian.” On the subject of her own sexuality, Azalea says, “I will do songs and I’ll talk about women… I know I talk about women a lot, and I think women are beautiful and I like talking about them, but I didn’t want people to misconstrue that… I’m not gay. I love gay people, but I’m straight.”
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