In My Defense - Iggy Azalea: Review
is an Australian rapper who gained a huge profile earlier this decade off the back of major industry support from TI's label and a number of high profile feature tracks with artists like Ariana Grande and Charli XCX. After releasing her debut album The New Classic to critical shrugs in 2015 it has taken quite a while for a follow-up record, due to label trickery and a first attempt at the second record being scrapped.
Review By Lavender:
Iggy Azalea has spent about half a decade being one of the baddest bitches in rap music, and unlike many of her male contemporaries that are so easy to hate, personality is the highlight of her image. Unfortunately what she owns in personality she has historically lacked in musical consistency. Her debut album The New Classic was one that I genuinely wanted to like quite a bit but fell short repeatedly with flat hooks and some painfully generic songwriting. Since then she has dropped a few singles none of which have really floored me but as she has continued to make headlines as a pop culture figure I can't help but be excited for what she does next. While In My Defense suffers from many of the same inconsistencies as her debut record I can at least say that it's a step in the right direction.
The worst moments on Defense come when there is no musicality to lean on and Iggy also comes up short in the personality department, as sometimes her big claims manage to clearly step out of bounds. The opening track Thanks I Get sees Iggy rapping like an influential veteran but given the instrumental is painfully generic and the flows are borrowed the entire thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Hoemita is the other track here I hoped would be a bad bitch anthem but the song itself is too much of a miss with some dreadfully average bars and a Lil Yachty feature that is too lowkey for its own good and get completely lost in the lack of emoting. I can't see any reason to return to this track in a world with Nicki and Cardi's music.
The first half of the record is also littered with terrible choruses and a number of tracks are brought down by some dreadful repetition in the hooks. Sally Walker may be the worst one of them all and I said when it was released as a single that it may be the worst hook I have heard all year, it is impossible for me to get past that aspect of it regardless of what else is here. Spend It is way to repetitive for its own good as once you get through both the Spend It/Get It and the Run It Back refrains it feels like most of the song has gone by without much to say for it.
There are a handful of songs that wander through the middle quality section of this album starting with Clap Back. The track is surprisingly smooth and I love the Ass Fat/Act Black refrain in the hook. I like the icy trap beat shes rapping over but once again the repetitive use of the title in the hook is more annoying than its worth. Fuck It Up is a track that I'm not really sure how to feel about as it is pretty hilarious but I can't tell if it's supposed to be or not. Either the track is a decent one that is hard to take the right level of seriousness, or a solid track made much better by how self aware its two MCs are of their own hilarity. Finally Comme Des Garcons is a very nondescript banger that sees Iggy acting ruthless but not really saying anything that substantial or noteworthy. It also features that "They go nuts like seamen" line that hurts my stomach a little bit when I hear it.
Thankfully the first half of the record has a few bangers and the last few tracks are a great run of sex bops. Started has an absolutely bangin beat and I like this track just as much as I did when it was dropped as a single with her ruthless hook and catchy verses. Big Bad has a seriously great hook that rides the beat perfectly and features a great guest addition in Iggy's protege Stini. The closing track Pussy Pop is not exactly the albums true sex anthem despite its name, the chorus is sticky but a touch longer than it needs to be but with a hard-hitting beat and some pussy poppable lyrics it is a great ending moment.
The real highlights of the record come when Iggy isn't afraid to let her unrelenting sexuality show and the results are hard hitting and sexy tunes. Freak Of The Week has a hook that I don't love but everything else here is perfect. The song is bouncy as fuck and shows off a brash sexuality that helped me fall in love with Iggy's persona in the first place. Who of all people would you want to feature on a track like this, legendarily raunchy Juicy J of course who makes an excellent appearance that totally ties up the track. No matter what this song is destined for many filthy plenty of filthy Spotify playlists, mine included. Its companion track is another one of the singles I liked quite a bit Just Wanna. In this second helping of pussy poppery there are interlacing samples that I hate myself for immediately recognized as Superbad, but that is for personal reckoning. The song is built around a catchy "Just Wanna Fuck/Just Wanna Nut" refrain that has been stuck in my head since I first heard it and the song is just a filthy and unrelenting banger that really hits at a part of you that you didn't really want to admit was there.
In My Defense is a step in the right direction for Iggy's career that hopefully didn't come years too late. There has been a lot of noise surrounding Iggy's career but ultimately the music should speak for itself and while this record is an improvement it is far from perfect. With some consistency issues and a number of underwhelming hooks the album isn't really as sharp as I was hoping for, but after five years of studio album silence I'm happy to see the progression and hoping that we will hear more music from Iggy sooner rather than later. 4/10
