Australian-born rapper Iggy Azalea is the latest hip-hop star to offer her two cents on what is currently the most talked about song in hip-hop; Big Sean‘s “Control” and more specifically, Kendrick Lamar‘s scene-stealing appearance on the song.
“The world is talking about Kendrick’s verse,” Azalea said in an interview with HipHopDX. “I think Kendrick’s verse was amazing. I think it’s a really good Kendrick verse. I heard everybody talking about it, as I’m sure most people did, before I heard the song and everybody is going so hard on it and getting their feelings hurt about it. So I thought he’d really gone in on everybody. I thought it was like, [50 Cent’s] ‘How To Rob’ or some crazy s—. And I was like, ‘Oh my God, let me hear it.’ And I listened to it and I read the lyrics. I think it’s an amazing verse.”
Azalea went on to say that fans and media are reading too much into the confrontational lyrics and “sensationalizing” the competitive aspect.
“I think it’s a f—ing great, amazing verse but I do feel like some people are kind of sensationalizing healthy competition,” Iggy said. “Really, out of the whole verse, although essentially the whole verse is about you, what you aspire to be or being the best or those sorts of things, I do think that it’s two or three bars that’s kind of non-specifically about calling out names. Those are people he is calling out because you respect them. You think they’re your competition. I feel the same way as an artist when I’m competing against people. I want to be the best and have healthy competition but I still want to kill you all. That’s just how it is.
“That’s how it is in the office, too,” Iggy continued. “You love someone but you all want their position. Everybody wants to be the president. That’s what it is. I thought he was going to say like, some disrespectful s— because the way everybody has been acting about it. I was like, ‘Hold on, this is a great f—ing verse but this is just healthy competition. He respects these people. They’re his peers and he wants to be the best.’ So, I think it’s awesome, but being a bit over-sensationalized in terms of what was said about these rappers. I don’t think it’s being over-sensationalized in terms of how great it was. I think it’s a brilliant verse, but I do think it’s been a bit over-sensationalized in terms of someone getting at somebody else. I see Gucci Mane saying some more disrespectful s— on his Twitter whenever he gets an opportunity to — that’s almost completely mindless. So, I don’t know, the world is funny.”
