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Iggy Azalea Apologizes for ‘Slave Master’ Lyric

Iggy Azalea

Recent Interscope signee and Australian rapper Iggy Azalea was included in XXL magazine’s cred-boosting Freshmen 2012 list… and then promptly came under fire (by critics as buzzy as Azealia Banks) for what some considered a racist lyric in her song “D.R.U.G.S.,” in which she raps, “When the relay starts, I’m a runaway slave… Master / shitting on the past, gotta spit it like a pastor.” Today, she’s made a public apology for the line.

In a letter posted on MissJia (via HipHopDX) Azalea explains the lyric was originally a reference (and tribute, according to her) to Kendrick Lamar’s “Look Out for Detox,” a song that contains the line, “I’m a runaway slave master.” As she writes, “In all fairness, it was a tacky and careless thing to say and if you are offended, I am sorry.” Her lip service to the song, she says, was an attempt at metaphor, in describing a “mastering” or overcoming the past.

“Sometimes we get so caught up in our art and creating or trying to push boundaries, we don’t stop to think how others may be hurt by it,” continued the rapper, whose comic artist father made her study art as a child. “In this situation, I am guilty of doing that and I regret not thinking things through more.” Her first mixtape was, we have to point out, called Ignorant Art. Iggy has yet to put out her T.I.-assisted debut album (The New Classic is due sometime this June), but will probably be watching out for potentially controversial lines in the meantime.

Watch the video for the offending single, “D.R.U.G.S.”

https://youtube.com/watch?v=dsLy-jaGhLc