Mic Navarro's Corner: Iggy Azalea - The New Classic ALBUM REVIEW

There once was a time in hip hop where many believed there were two types of people that should not be rappers. Females and white people. White rappers and female rappers separately have difficulty at times trying to make it in the game. So the thought of a white female rapper making it, to some, is a joke. Needless to say, Iggy Azalea has a tremendous amount of pressure on her to prove naysayers wrong. The Australian born femcee came into the game in 2011 where she released her debut mixtape Ignorant Art. She would immediately grab attention with her sexy yet raunchy single "Pussy". A track while very sexual, was filled with tons of attitude and cockiness. I think that's when many, including me, took notice that she's a bold chick. It was enough to get the attention of T.I. who ended up signing her to his Hustle Gang label. XXL Magazine also took notice as she became the first female rapper to be named as a XXL Freshman in 2012. Well now after a few EP releases, some promo singles and numerous push backs, here finally is her debut album The New Classic. I really didn't know what to expect going into this. Well...I kinda did. All I know is what I heard from Ignorant Art. I've heard nothing in between then and now. So I guess I was kinda expecting a little of the same and a little of something new. Well it appears that that's what it was. This album I'd have to say is barely average. The album lyrically, production wise and content wise it was pretty much what I kinda expected. However, some of it is what you typically expect from any debut album. Talking a lot about her come up, her personal struggle and all that jazz. Production was up and down. There were some that were cool and some that was just plain bad. Instead of the west coast hip hop style of sound that Iggy often imitates, the album gives off more of a dance/pop meets EDM meets trap rap. It's an influx of everything you hear on the mainstream airwaves today. Majority of the content wise is mostly a lot of bragging, boasting, shooting down haters and just a straight up "gives no fucks" attitude throughout the whole album. Just plain old flaunting and showing off. It's like the equivalent of a random Instagram model posting pics all day flaunting and showing off. Although Iggy doesn't come off as an attention whore like them. Anyway it's time to break down these songs. First off I want to address this. One of the main gripes many people have with Iggy is her voice and/or accent. Now mind you she is Australian and has a very thick accent. You add that plus her urban hip hop vocabulary and slang that she picked up while in the states and the result is this. I'll admit, her voice does take some getting use to. But it's kind of a good thing depending on how you look at it. It makes her stand out more from her peers. It's always a good thing to have a different and more unique voice. Okay now getting to these tracks. The second track "Don't Need Y'all" is her basically shooting down all her so called "friends" who want to be around now that she's making it but wasn't around before. A story we've heard so many times from artists. The beat is very slow paced and mellow. Almost sounds like a beat for a R&B slow jam. The Invisible Men, who produced 90% of this album, did a pretty good job of making a beat that captures the mood of the song perfectly. "100" finds her doing exactly what the hook says" Keeping it 100. About the things she has and wants. Or lusts for. The hook, done by Watch The Duck (who also produced it), is actually very catchy. On an album chock full of singles (four official ones to be exact), I could totally see this being one too. Speaking of singles, if I had to pick a favorite it would be the single "Fancy". The beat is pretty dope. It's produced by The Invisible Men but when I first heard it, I immediately looked at the album credits because it's sounds so much like a DJ Mustard beat. Even has the "ay! ay! ay!" ad-libs that DJ Mustard is known for. Her flow was good on here too. Really wasn't feeling the hook by Charli XCX but it didn't damage the song completely. I'll also give her a couple cool points for the "rooftop bringing '88 back" line which, of course, is a Nas line. Another cool beat, courtesy of StarGate, was "Black Widow". I love the happy jumpiness of this beat. Gives a fun vibe. Rita Ora gets on the hook and does okay for the most part. Her and Iggy sound like they have good chemistry. Must be an international thing. Now her flow was okay on "Work" but this song still has to do a little more growing on me. The beat catchy but yet average. Just like on "100", she showing how much of a go getter and a paper chaser she is on this track. I dig the message on "Impossible Is Nothing". It's one of those "never give up" songs dedicated to those trying to make it somewhere in life. Also speakings on the good and evil of fame. Despite a plain beat and hook, the message is what makes me listen to it. Now all that I disliked. Off top, "Bounce". By far the worst song on the whole album. The beat is so erratic and all over the place and you can just tell Iggy didn't really know what to do with it as far as her flow. The hook was poor as were her lyrics. If this was an attempt at a twerk song then it was a poor one. Sad considering that this is a single too. "Change Your Life" features her mentor T.I. and was a bit of a let down. Really wasn't feeling the stop and go beat on here. Again another weak hook. Despite an okay verse from T.I., even he couldn't save this. It also sounds like T.I. may have written some of Iggy's lyrics here because she's spitting just like him (she does on a few other tracks as well). "New Bitch" is where her cockiness gets the best of her. It's a track where she takes this chicks man, laughs at her about it, and basically tells her to get over it because she's his "new bitch". Sounds like some Facebook/Twitter drama. The kind of drama I really don't like. I bet there's gonna be some females that can relate and will like this but I'm not really feeling it. The whole back half of this album was just not good at all. Once it got to the half-assed reggae attempt "Lady Patra", from that moment on the album plummeted. "Fuck Love" weird electric dance beat. Again, a topic I'm not feeling. Her acting conceited saying she only loves herself and all she wants is the paper. Now I ain't saying she a gold digger....(insert Kanye meme). Then "Rolex" and "Just Askin" was two songs that I couldn't even stay awake to listen too. I guess that's why they didn't make the album and were thrown on as bonus tracks. Overall, this album was barely, barely average. Average to okay beats, average lyrics and average overall sound. I give this a final grade of a C-. There is no doubt, Iggy Azalea potential is through the roof. She has flow, she has character, attitude, swagger, and of course she's sexy. I must say though, it was quite ballsy of her to put the word "classic" in her album title. I think once she masters her lyrics and gets on better production, who knows. She just may drop a real classic that her fans want to hear. Good luck to her. End.

Final Grade: C-