Just when it seemed Iggy Azalea took a break from angering people in hip-hop, she’s back at it again. This time it’s for an interview with GQ magazine, where she talked about institutional racism in her home country of Australia.
According to the 27-year-old, she didn’t benefit from white privilege in her country at all, because it simply didn’t exist.
“The whole privilege thing is a rough conversation,” she said. “I understand that in America there is institutionalized racism, and there is a privilege that comes with the color of your skin. That’s real. I grew up in a situation that didn’t involve any privilege, and I worked really hard.”
“ A lot of my childhood is overlooked,” Azalea continued. “People assume they know my life because Australia is a nice beautiful country. It’s tough because I want you to acknowledge my work and [to understand] that this wasn’t easy. But I also don’t want to detract from or trivialize any people of colors’ position, because that’s legitimate. So it’s like where do I fit in that whole conversation? I don’t know.”
Soon after, Talib Kweli posted some of Azalea’s comments and blasted her notion that institutional racism never existed in her country. He also brought up the struggles of Australia’s indigenous people and tagged Azalea in the process.
“Can someone tell @thenewclassic about aborigines and the struggle of people of color in Australia. #butsheaintracisttho,” he wrote.
This isn’t the first time Talib and Azalea have gotten into it. Back in 2016, the Brooklyn rhymer criticized her for belittling Macklemore’s single “White Privilege,” where he mentioned her name.
Instead of listening to Macklemore’s message about cultural appropriation and racism, Azalea took it as a personal insult and dismissed the song entirely, which angered Talib. He also brought up the other times that Azalea has angered the rap community with her comments.
“The fact @iggyazalea thinks Mackelmore’s song was a diss to her instead of actually listening is proof of her privilege,” wrote Talib two years ago. “F–k Iggy Azalea. I actually rooted for Iggy when she first came out. But she’s disrespected hip-hop culture one too many times. Stole from Kendrick [Lamar], tweets n—-, dissed Q-Tip, dismisses privilege.”
Azalea hasn’t responded to Talib’s latest message about Australia and institutionalized racism, nor has she further explained herself.
