Rating: NNN
Iggy Azalea is a 23-year-old American South-via-Australia rapper whose geographically ambiguous flow tends to rankle detractors. Her debut album won’t necessarily convert the haters.
On Don’t Need Y’All, she cops Drake’s downtempo vibe to painfully derivative effect. Country-influenced 100 sees her stilted flow overpowered by a hook from Atlanta-based production crew Watch the Duck. Impossible Is Nothing suffers from lack of emotion in a song entirely dependent on it.
But, despite Azalea’s nimble delivery sometimes lapsing into the mechanical, there are moments on The New Classic when she sounds ready for prime time. On Goddess, she’s impassioned, snarling at critics with the self-aware confidence of a veteran. Fancy features an irresistible four-chord progression and a charming hook by Charli XCX. Azalea is commanding here – cheekily trumpeting high-class living with a wink and a Kanye shrug.
That Azalea is comfortable with a variety of production styles ensures she won’t have trouble selling iTunes singles, but she won’t become the artist she clearly aspires to be until she homes in on one or two of them.
Top track: Fancy
Iggy Azalea plays the Danforth Music Hall on Friday (April 25).
