Azalea opened up to ET about the reason she's taking a break from music after releasing her next record.
Iggy Azalea is taking a break from music, but not without leaving fans with some new tracks to close out the summer with. The new mom opened up to ET about why she's taking a break, and how life has been since becoming a mom to her 1-year-old son, Onyx. Azalea's new album, The End of an Era, is a mashup of the music she's experimented with throughout her career.
"I mean, sonically, it's just a mashup of all the different sounds that I've played with throughout my musical career," she explained to ET's Denny Directo. "There's a lot of electronic elements, a lot of big, heavy Miami, '80s synths and then of course always the heavy, 808, hip hop drums that you have heard in 'Fancy' and those big hits that I've had."
The project really is an end of an era, with Azalea sharing that she planned for the album to be her last, for now, as she ventures off to explore other creative avenues.
"I always felt that I had other creative things that I really wanted to get to, and it's hard to get to them when you're a recording artist because so much of recording is going on tour after the fact. And I do love that, but with COVID the last year and a half now, that stopped my touring, which was good for me in a way, because it freed up my time to do other creative projects," she shared. "I'm so deep in those now, and I've been enjoying them so much, and I just feel that I have so much to really bring to those things and those other ideas that I want to do, that it really cemented me in my decision that I think now is a good time for me to say everything that I need to say, and then take my step away and focus on some other creative things."
As a Gemini, Azalea is still reserving the right to change her mind.
"I am a Gemini, so I never say things super definitively, but this is my last album on my distribution deal, so I don't have an obligation to write any more. And I haven't signed any other offers and I don't intend to, so we will see, but right now there is nothing else contractually that I am obligated to do," the rapper said.
She continued, "But this isn't a contractual obligation, putting out this album. This was so important to me. I really took my time with it because I'm like, 'This may be the last one,' and I'm pretty sure it will be, so I just really wanted to make it something that I was so happy with and that I can live with loving the cover, loving every song. And for me, it's a no skip album."
Being in the spotlight and being scrutinized for every decision she makes or doesn't make has influenced the "Fancy" rapper's decision to step away from music -- that and her son Onyx, who she shares with rapper Playboi Carti.
"My decision to not make any more music is ultimately, really at this point, truly 95% of it is about the fact that I just don't feel that I am comfortable being that level open to the public," she shared. "Maybe it's partially because I have a son now and I feel that maternal instinct to want to really protect him and have that safe space. And I don't really want to invite strangers to have an opinion about my life so much anymore."
"So it's more about that but also, I really don't want to tour anymore because I have my son, and I'm so excited I'm going on this big Pitbull tour that starts on the 19th actually, which is my last big hurrah. I'll still do squat dates and things like that, but in terms of an aggressive tour where you're away all the time, I don't want my son to be transient in that way, always on a tour bus. I admire people that do it and do it well, but for me, that's not my vision for my future," she added.
That public scrutiny has also forced the performer to pull away from being as open about her son and her life as a mother, especially after encountering internet trolls that attacked the 1-year-old.
"I post him on my close friends' stories on Instagram. So everybody I want to see Onyx is seeing Onyx all the time," Azalea revealed. "It's not that it necessarily hurts my feelings, I'm a grownup, but it's my job to protect my son as a mother. So when I see something like that, that's so extreme, I would love to share them all the time, but that wouldn't be really me protecting him knowing that that's what's going on, so I can't do that."
For more on the rapper and mom, watch the video below.
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