What we can learn about brand story from Iggy Azalea

There are two sides to the brand story coin: your story and your customer's story. But at the heart of it, they must be complementary or reflective of one another. And nowhere do we see this more clearly than in American rap: emcees traditionally tell their own story in relation to fellow rappers, but always in a way with which their audience can personally identify. For classic examples of how the art form has been used this way, check this out.

For Iggy Azalea, this means continually defending her place in the milieu of hip-hop.

A lot of people claim she has a "put-on" hood accent. A few years back, Azealia Banks, another rapper, called her "Igloo Australia" (yes, Iggy is a white Australian) and accused her of believing that black culture is cool but black issues aren't. Then Q-tip lectured her sanctimoniously over twitter abut the history of hip-hop and finally, one of her biggest supporters, T.I., cut professional ties with her when it seemed like members of the hip-hop community had to pick a side.

Iggy stands proud and defends her craft. She learned the art of rap from the the age of 16, in Atlanta. She raps Dirty South. That's her heritage as a rapper. (This style really solidified with OutKast and continued with Ludacris, T.I., Usher, Ciara, B.o.B and Young Jeezy.)

As an art form, rap sits within a long tradition of African American storytelling and language games that feature parody, pastiche, and, above all, wordplay. Underlying the work is the process of signifying, or “the obscuring of apparent meaning.” Ambiguity is prized, meaning is destabilized, and gaps between the literal and the figurative are intentionally exploited. And this is what Iggy does so well—from her own point of view. A very different one than most.

When we deconstruct her lyrics and videos, we find that they are superfine examples of rap talent. Take her breakout single, "Fancy". Although at first glance, it looks nothing like the rap or hip-hop that we're used to, it is absolutely authentic.

The first verse is nothing but an ode to Nas  (with whom she toured extensively in her early career - facing die-hard and unforgiving rap fans night after night and eventually winning them over.) Iggy then goes on to use the lyrics, the style, the bars, of famous, established, iconic black rappers. She’s paying tribute to the culture; paying her dues.

And then - she also, extremely boldly (what she calls experimentally) steps out into pop. She's using the movie "Clueless" as a wink: 'you think I'm Clueless? I'm not. I'm here. I understand my place and you damn well love this catchy shit.'

The word “fancy” itself is key, too, put to similar use as Swizz Beats did in Drake’s 2010 track of the same name. “You fancy, huh,” became something of a catchphrase of its own, usually used when someone is dressing or appointing themselves beyond their station, - which Iggy is continually accused of. For a line-by-line analysis, check this out.

So, her brand story is a classic (her first full length album, she called The New Classic): the outcast who made good. And who doesn't love to see themselves in that story?

Iggy took a two-year break from music (2016 to 2018) to recover from the above feud and a huge, public heart break. Her most recent release continues her (brand) story of survival as an outsider: she raps about her intention to come back, remain, and be unashamed that she is a different color from most other emcees.

Again, she establishes her bona fides out of the gate, with a callback to the chorus of the The Notorious B.I.G.track “Kick In The Door” from his 1997 album Life After Death.

Then, she stakes her claim in the culture of hip-hop, just as she did in "Fancy". She's "changing the game". She is "switching it up". She talks about being told she should play her role - stay in her place, but that she intends to step out boldly into the culture that is, "all black... but when I come through, it's Kodak." All the while, she is ostensibly rapping about a sexual liaison.

Iggy Azalea's story is unapologetic, bold, poetic, relatable, memorable, and consistent yet evolving - what all masterful brand stories should be. I'm going to keep listening.