Review // Iggy Azalea @ Fabric

Gooood Morning- I recently witnessed Iggy Azalea's live show at Fabric in conjunction with HP for Crack over here! Truth be told, I've been an Iggy fan since her Ignorant Art EP but her live performance on this particular occasion? I'm a reformed fan after viewing first hand that use of a backing track and glorified gluteal thrustings into crowds are not the way to dazzle with one's talent when she does actually have some excellent spits under her belt :( You can also read an unedited piece below.

Iggy Azalea @ Fabric

The peroxide persona of Grand Hustle’s first lady Iggy Azalea  has succumbed to the radars of not only the hip-hop underground since the releases of her ‘Glory’ and ‘Trap Gold’ EPs’, but also found herself propelled onto radio station day time A-lists and red carpets the industry over, across a whirlwind twelve months. Pretty admirable for a girl with ‘No money/ No family/ Sixteen in the middle of Miami’, huh? Tonight’s special collaborative show in conjunction with media giants HP has a mood resembling something of an almost-residency, as Iggy has stayed loyal to our fine capital city throughout her rise, yet will her one-off appearance at the usually electronic-orientated Fabric see her project as fiery and fresh as we hoped, or will she bring a case of comfortability over quality?

West Coast certified and now staple opener across the plethora of Iggy’s recent live shows, DJ Whizz Kidd provides the incipient teasings and ignites commotion with vintage hip-hop treasures from Montell Jordan, admirably scratched into the likes of Ludacris, that effect the specially-picked and already hyperactive crowd to spring like children on a sugar trip, even more so than they were.

As illuminated circus-themed features sparkle across the miniature stage, Iggy animates out  right into the firing line with her opening spits on snare-laden “EDM instigator” hit ‘Beat Down’, demanding attention thanks to her lightening delivery and pristine clarity amongst the speed. There is however one obvious flaw hanging overhead; the crude and seemingly unnecessary employment of a full-blown backing track -vocals and all- which overshadows from the start, setting the tone that this show certainly isn’t set to be bromidic, yet is hardly something of a high-quality performance so far.

As a vivacious quartet of metallic hotpant-clad dancers twist and twerk around Iggy, an impressive acapella freestyle of ‘d.r.u.g.s.’ is distributed as mind-numbingly skillfull before her self-assured snarl comes into play for single ‘Murda Bizness’, helped along with just the right slice of attitude. Latest single ‘Bounce’ transcribes her as her most vibrant, feisty and determined with a pristinely executed dance off to match, before ‘Drop That’ sees Iggy take a seat centre stage for her troupe to be thrusted into the limelight.

As the performance progresses on however, it becomes obvious that her craft isn’t as tightly perfected as first thought, as ‘Backseat’ is half-heartedly paraded and Chevy Jones high-octave dispatch that is usually heard on the track seems to overpower her un-weighted delivery for a performer that  has come to blow up so much in the public domain- and it doesn’t end there. The craftily nabbed skewed down DJ Fresh sample upon ‘Golddust’ presents itself as disjointed and straight-up peculiar to those not in the know, whilst early release and the usually ferocious ‘Pu$$y’ spins speeches of “If you like pussy, you gotta like cheeks” followed by a brazen exhibit of gluteal slapping that seems inappropriately there more to provoke reaction than anything else.

With a top ten single and a proven talent when it comes to Iggy’s art in its basic form, it feels like here at Fabric presence and persona overpowers her live show, when it really can’t afford to at this point in her career. Sure, I’m all for women being able to flaunt their sexuality as and when they choose- only when it overpowers talent which she undeniably possesses, tonight’s show continues on to not settling comfortable, nor in a definitive direction for a fresh artist tipped so highly in such a fast-paced industry.
Words by Yours Truly X