Amethyst Amelia Kelly, better known by her stage name Iggy Azalea, is an Australian rapper, songwriter, and model. Born in Sydney and raised in Mullumbimby, Azalea moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a career in hip hop music, residing in the southern part of the country. She earned public recognition after releasing YouTube music videos for her songs "Pu$$y" and "Two Times". She signed a record contract with T.I.'s record label Grand Hustle in 2012, gaining attention from her debut mixtape Ignorant Art. Her debut studio album, The New Classic, peaked among the top five of several charts worldwide and received generally mixed reviews. The album spawned five singles: "Work", "Bounce", "Change Your Life", "Fancy" and "Black …show more content…
Her father, Brendan Kelly, was a painter and comic artist, while her mother, Tanya, cleaned holiday houses and hotels. Before embarking on a solo career, Azalea formed a group with two other girls from her neighbourhood: "I was like, I could be the rapper. This could be like TLC. I'll be Left Eye." Azalea eventually decided to disband the group because the other girls weren't taking it seriously: "I take everything I do serious . I'm too competitive." Azalea travelled to the United States in 2006, shortly before she turned 16. She told her parents she was going "on a holiday" with a friend, but eventually decided to stay and shortly afterwards told them she was not coming back home: "I was drawn to America because I felt like an outsider in my own country, I was in love with hip hop, and America is the birthplace of that, so I figured the closer I was to the music, the happier I'd be. I was right." She recalled, "My mum was crying, saying, 'Just be safe.' I was thinking, 'I'm going by myself. I'm fucking crazy!'." After her arrival in the U.S., she received her GED, and resided in the country on a visa waiver for six years, returning to Australia every three months to renew it. Azalea currently resides in the U.S. on a five-year O visa, as of February 2013, having previously earned money