The New Classic
The New Classic is the debut studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released on 21 April 2014 by Def Jam Recordings. Primarily a hip hop album, The New Classic features elements of EDM, dance-pop and trap in its production.[1]
"Lady Patra" redirects here. For the singer sometimes known by that name, see Patra (singer).The New Classic
21 April 2014
2012–2013
42:03
- FKi 1st
- The Arcade
- Joey Dyer
- The Invisible Men
- The Messengers
- Reeva & Black
- Stargate
- Watch the Duck
The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 52,000 copies in the United States. The New Classic was the highest-charting female rap album since Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012) and the highest chart entry for a female rapper's debut album since Minaj's Pink Friday (2010) entered at number two. The album also moved up to number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums, making Azalea the first non-American female rapper to reach the summit of these charts.
The album produced five singles. "Work", "Bounce", and "Change Your Life" were released as the first three singles all of which attained commercial success on charts worldwide. The fourth single "Fancy" featuring British singer-songwriter Charli XCX was an international success, reaching the top five in Australia and the United Kingdom, and peaking at number one in New Zealand, the United States and Canada. The fifth single, "Black Widow" featuring British singer Rita Ora peaked at number 4 in the United Kingdom. It became Azalea's highest-charting single as a lead artist on that chart, and also peaked at number 3 in the United States, while receiving mixed reviews from music critics.
The New Classic won the Breakthrough Artist Release at the 2014's ARIA Music Awards and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album at the 2014 American Music Awards. The album also garnered Azalea four Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Fancy" and Best Rap Album at the 57th Grammy Awards. The New Classic was later reissued in a repackaged version, titled Reclassified. To promote the album, Azalea embarked on her first headlining concert tour, entitled The New Classic Tour.[2]
In August 2014, the album was certified Gold in Canada and in November 2014, it was also certified gold in Australia (Azalea's home country). In April 2016, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album was named the second most-streamed album of the year overall in the US, third in the UK and globally on commercial music streaming service Spotify in 2014. On 2 February 2015, it received a Platinum award from Universal Music Colombia. The New Classic also received a Platinum award from Universal Music Brazil, along with its repack Reclassified, on 8 November 2015.
Composition[edit]
During her headlining European tour in December, Azalea spoke on the album's composition: "It's going to be similar to TrapGold and that will be very electronic and high-energy but I'm gonna talk more about my story and where I'm from and things about myself because I never really say that, I don't tell you too much about me, it's kind of just talking a lot of shit. It's what I really do, like energy and dance... but I do wanna touch on who I am and tell my story because I feel like I have a really interesting story and a lot of people don't know that because a lot of people don't see the interviews and I would like to put it in my music that I've been waiting for the right time for something that I feel like people will hear in the right platform and I think it will be this album so the near future will just be trying to tell my story in that album next year."[25] In an interview with Billboard, released in August 2013, Azalea described the album as "fairly electronic, like moombahton mixed with hip hop".[26]
Singles[edit]
Azalea released "Work", her commercial debut single on 17 March 2013. The song, produced by 1st Down and The Invisible Men, serves as the album's lead single.[45][46] It was described as a subdued trap-meets-snap tune about Azalea's peculiar coming-of-age as a model who came to America in her teens before trying her hand at rap ("no money / no family / 16 in the middle of Miami").[47] Commercially the song performed well, charting within the top twenty in the UK charts and within the top three of the UK R&B charts, as well as managing to chart in Australia, Ireland and Scotland. The music video for the song was shot in the last week of February 2013 and premiered 13 March 2013, on VEVO.[48] Directed by Jonas & François, the video "is all trailer park elegance, dive bar lap dances, and a bit of 'Bad Girls'-inspired ridin' around and/or gettin' it".[47] Azalea revealed the inspirations for the visuals included Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Tarantino's Death Proof and the music video for Outkast's "B.O.B.".[49] On 17 July 2013, MTV announced Azalea's "Work" video had been nominated for the "Artist To Watch" category at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.[50] In 2014, "Work" received a resurgence in popularity in the United States, following Azalea's simultaneous success with The New Classic, "Fancy" and "Problem".[51] It re-entered Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles at a position of number three on 10 May 2014,[52] before entering the Billboard Hot 100 at number 88, and re-entering at a new peak of number 24 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs the week after.[53] "Work" also debuted at number 14 on Billboard Hot Rap Songs for the week ending 17 May 2014, marking Azalea's second top 20 hit on that chart.[54]
The second single released in anticipation of the album was "Bounce", which premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 26 April 2013.[55] The song was released via digital distribution on 27 May 2013.[56] The music video for "Bounce" was filmed in April 2013 in Mumbai and premiered 6 May 2013, on VEVO.[57][58] The video, which was directed by BRTHR Films, is Bollywood-themed.[59][60][61] "Bounce" served as the album's second single in Europe and Australia, while "Change Your Life", was released as the second single in North America. The song charted at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. "Bounce" also received positive reviews from critics, who deemed it Azalea's most commercial song to date, "[Azalea] pairs the fiery raps for which she gained popularity with a club-friendly house beat that's the most commercial thing we've heard from her to date – more so even than the trappy 'Work.'"
In May 2013, in an interview with Rap-Up, after Azalea revealed she was no longer signed to Grand Hustle Records, she announced the album's third single would be titled "Change Your Life" and would feature T.I.[62] She also revealed the melodic song finds her singing for the first time.[62] "It's a big record," said Azalea of the single.[62] "I think it will be good to have T.I. on that single and just show that we're together, we're still family. It's definitely not me trying to make my silent exit from Hustle Gang."[62] "Change Your Life" premiered on BBC Radio 1Xtra on 19 August 2013. It was later released via digital distribution on 13 October.[63] The song peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming her highest-charting single on that chart at the time.
On 5 December 2013, an unfinished song by Azalea, which surfaced with the title "Leave It" and the tag "produced by DJ Mustard", was leaked online.[64][65][66] Azalea later revealed the song was in fact produced by The Invisible Men & The Arcade, who she collaborated with on the entire album.[67] On 5 February 2014, Azalea announced that she would be releasing a new single titled "Fancy", featuring English singer-songwriter Charli XCX, later that week.[68] The song was premiered on BBC Radio 1 Xtra at 7 pm GMT on 6 February 2014. After the song's premiere, it was revealed "Fancy" was the song that had leaked titled "Leave It". On 17 February 2014, the song was serviced to urban contemporary radio in the United Kingdom as the album's fourth single and became her highest-charting song to date.[69] Thanks to "Fancy" and "Problem", in which she is the featured artist, Azalea joined The Beatles as the only acts to rank at numbers one and two simultaneously with their first two Hot 100 hits.[70]
Moreover, Azalea passes Lil' Kim as the female rapper with the longest-leading No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100[71] and moves into a tie for fifth place among lead women who have scored the longest commands on the Hot 100 this decade.[72]
On 26 February 2014, in an interview with Los Angeles radio station Power 106, Azalea revealed that the next single from the album would be a song written by her and Katy Perry, featuring an undisclosed female artist,[39] who was later revealed to be Rita Ora on "Black Widow", when the official track-listing was unveiled on 10 March 2014.
Commercial performance[edit]
The album debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 52,000 copies in the United States. The New Classic was the highest-charting female rap album, since Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012) and the highest chart entry for a female rapper's debut album since Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday (2010) entered at number 2.[95][96] In its second week, the album sold 23,000 more copies.[97] The album also moved up to number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums, making Azalea the first non-American female rapper to reach the summit of these charts.[98][99] In its third week, it sold 15,000 more copies in the United States.[100] In its fourth week, the album sold 16,000 more copies.[101]
It re-entered the top forty on the Billboard 200 chart for the week ending 28 December 2014, selling 10,000 more copies and bringing its annual total to 485,000 in the United States.[102][103] As of February 2015, it had crossed the 1.6 million track and streaming equivalent album sales mark in the US.[104] As of April 2015, The New Classic has sold 500,000 copies in the United States.[105] In April 2016, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
On 26 August 2014, the album was certified gold in Canada.[106] On 24 November 2014, it also received a Gold certification in Australia.[107] The album was named the second most-streamed album of the year overall in the US,[108] third in the UK and globally on commercial music streaming service Spotify in 2014.[109] On 2 February 2015, it received a Platinum award from Universal Music Colombia.[110] The New Classic also received a Platinum award from Universal Music Brazil, along with its repack Reclassified, on 8 November 2015.[111]