Twenty-three-year-old Australian rapper Iggy Azalea declared World War III, and then more specifically war against me, about 15 minutes into our phone conversation. She'd just woken up in a London hotel room having performed at Wireless Music Festival the previous day, and I was alone in Oyster’s Sydney office some time close to the witching hour, drinking shitty wine. (This the way the world ends: not with a bang but with a tipple, to paraphrase T. S. Eliot.)Zac Bayly: Hi Iggy! How are you?
Iggy Azalea: I'm good, thank you.
Where are you right now?
I'm in London at the moment. I'm in my hotel room.
I just got back from London. I flew into Australia three days ago and I'm super jetlagged.
Oh no! [Laughs] Yeah, it'll do that to you -- flying from anywhere to Australia will jetlag you.
You must be constantly jetlagged with the amount of travel you do.
Well, actually, it's the opposite. I'm never jetlagged, because I'm never on one time zone long enough [laughs]. It's fine for me, because my schedule's so crazy that I end up being so exhausted that any time I can sleep I sleep, no problem!It's when I get somewhere for more than a week that I start to realise...When you're on one time zone for too long, that's when it becomes jetlag.
What are some jobs you had before your music took off?
I've had a lot of jobs. My first ever job was at a store called The Laughing Buddha when I was 13. Then I worked in a supermarket, in a junk store, in a CD store and as a cleaner. I started my own hair company selling hair to salons for a while. That was the last job I had before being a rapper -- well, before making a living off of rap music.
Do you oversee the creation of all your video clips?
Um, of course! I do everything. Everything . I create the idea, and I do the storyboard with the directors. Once they select a few locations, I'll approve different options. I sit in while they edit. I do colour corrections. I'm involved in every part of the music video. It's important to me. You can't let other people paint your pictures if you're going to be an artist.
I really liked the video for 'Murda Bizness'. Are you obsessed with beauty pageants?
No...I just like the juxtaposition of beauty pageants for toddlers in tiaras and the obnoxious children with the music business...It's really interesting. They're two things that I see a connection between. I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with them. I think they're interesting in a car crash-type way.
I can see the parallel between that and being a woman in the music industry -- especially the rap industry -- because I'm assuming that people judge you based on different criteria than if you were a dude rapper.
Yeah. that's very true. That's a good observation. You get judged on different [criteria], and I think a lot of those things are unwarranted, but unfortunately I don't think it's necessarily a product of rap music or hip-hop culture or it being too masculine. I think it's just a product of us sexualising women in society.
So, this interview is going into the 'Hang Out In Real Life' issue, but it doesn’t sound like you get much time to hang out.
No! [Laughs] I've got too much stuff to do! I would never want time to hang out. That’s time wasted, to me. I have something that I need to achieve… I don't need time off, because I love the time that I spend working. I feel very lucky.
Who's your best friend?
I would have to say my stylist -- her name's Alejandra [Hernandez]. She's probably my best friend. I spend a lot of time with her; we get along really well.
Do you hang out outside of work?
I suppose, yeah, sure, but I have one of those jobs where you're never off the clock, are you? But her and I, we're always collaborating and thinking of ideas, so I suppose we're always working -- but we're working towards the same thing.
Do you have a favorite television programme that you watch together or anything like that?
Ummmm...I don't watch TV. She doesn't even have a television. The only time I watch television is if I'm on a plane.
What's your go-to for television when you're on the plane?
Well, wehn I'm on the plane, I just watch whatever I can, but my favorite show is Game of Thrones .I get my hair stylist to download the series onto my laptop, and I watch it on the plane like that.
How old were you when you moved to America?
I was 16.
What did you do when you got there? When I was 16 I was still listening to Evanescence alone in my room.
[Laughs] Um… Yeah, it’s funny. I meet a lot of people who say that, but I also meet a lot of people that were like me when they were 16 — all ready to go. What did I do when I moved to America? Just checked out the place. I just kind of soaked it all up, I suppose… as much as I could of Miami.
How quickly did you start working on music?
It took a while. Maybe after being there three or four months I started working on music and that kind of thing.
That’s not ‘a while’ at all! That’s really quick!
I suppose… I don’t know. I move quickly. You have to if you want to be the first. I’m extremely competitive.
Who are you competing against?
The world.
The world. Oh my God — so you’re competing against me too?
Yeah [laughs].
I heard that you love [The Nanny’s] Fran Drescher.
I do. I do love Fran — she’s one of my favourite characters.
With your best friend, [Iggy’s personal stylist] Alejandra Hernandez, are you Fran or Val, the sidekick?
I’m Fran I suppose, but… I suppose you could put me next to whoever you want and I’d still say, “I’m Fran.” [Laughs]
If you could choose any movie to represent your life, which would you choose?
If I had to pick a movie that represented my life I’d probably pick, like, Who Framed Roger Rabbit or Space Jam. Anything like that where it’s something cartoon or completely ridiculous mixed with something that’s based in reality or regular life, because I think my music is very out-of-this-world and ridiculous. It seems like something that wouldn’t occur in everyday life but then it’s real. Any movie that has Toon Land mixed with Human Land would be a good representation.
I am so impressed that you just thought of two movies off the top of your head that mix Toon Land and Human Land!
[Laughs] Yeah, well… They’re good movies!
Do you have any pets?
No, I don't. I don't have any animals. I don't have time to love them properly.
It's a hard life being a rapper if you don't get to have a puppy.
Yeah...That's true. I would love to have a dog, but...One day.
What would be your idea of Paradise, if there was no work? Where would you go?
I don't know. I think that sounds like hell to me, if I had nowhere to work. Paradise is having your mind occupied.
What would you name your autobiography?
What would I name my biography? That's a very good question. God, I don't know! That is very difficult. I...I have no idea. Shit. That's so hard. Not something corny...I saw somebody name their autobiography Happy Days the other day. You know, I do not want to hear that story! [Laughs]
But I feel like anybody who does an autobiography has resigned to giving it a lame title.
[Still laughing] Yeah, no, that's true. Maybe it'll just be a symbol. Maybe my autobiography will just have a symbol on the cover. It will be called nothing. It'll be, like, 'The autobiography formerly known as...' And then I won't have a title.
What will the symbol be?
A big 'fuck you' sign.