Iggy, Don't Forget Where you Came From

The new and upcoming star, Iggy Azalea, prides herself in the fact that she came from a rough life and has made it big. In her song, “Work”, she expresses the pride she has over her achievements in life. The song is filled with powerful line such as “how many floors I had to scrub just to make it past where I am from” or the reoccurring line of “no money, no family, 16 in the middle of Miami”. The song is meant to show her struggles and to empower people who are coming from several backgrounds to achieve their dreams. With such an empowering message, it would be thought that the music video would put a tear in your eye. The music video falls just shorts of that, seeing as Azalea herself is wearing $2000 shoes and barely any clothing.

The opening scene begins with Azalea walking in a desert with several objects on fire. The music video disappoints from the beginning considering the fact that Azalea is barely dressed and wearing clothing that costs more than most people’s homes, which is ironic considering the fact that she is singing about the fact that she had nothing while growing up. The music video continues to go downhill about 50 seconds in. Azalea is suddenly surrounded with backup dancers who are shaking their butts in front of the camera while Azalea is sexualizing herself because of the movements she is doing but also the clothing she’s wearing. This lessens the value of the song and takes away from the meaning. She is sexualizing and objectifying women, even though her song is meant to be inspiring.

The real problem with the music video comes up about two minutes in when Azalea begins dancing on a guy, steals his keys, and runs away. This is a problem for two reasons. Firstly, it is disregarding the real message of the song and making it seem like the only way she got to where she is is buy seducing men and doing illegal things. Although her song is filled with lyrics about her working hard, the music video makes it seem like the only way that she becae successful was because of men and breaking the law. This brings up the second problem: it marginalizes women everywhere because it shows that women cannot be successful on their own and rather they have to seduce or trick men in order to be up-and-coming.

Not only does this music video marginalizes women, it also goes on to offend the impoverished people and their society. Azalea is seen riding in her bike and walking around with clean clothing, full makeup, and nice hair in neighborhoods with people who are wearing ripped and dirty clothes. She is priding herself in coming from that background and yet in the music video, she is walking around like she is better and more powerful than all of them. It shows that she has clearly forgotten where she came from. It disrespects people that are still living in impoverished situations and makes them seem like they are worthless compared to people like her.

Although this song has a potential to be an empowering song, the music video brings it back down to the norms of the music industry. Although Azalea knows that she had a rough background, this music video proves that she has succumbed to the lifestyle and the attitudes of the music industry.