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Iggy Azalea has come to the defence of Lorde after her hit song 'Royals' was described as "deeply racist" last year by journalist Veronica Bayetti Flores.
In a piece for the website Feministing.com last November, Flores wrote: We all know who she's thinking when we're talking gold teeth, Cristal and Maybachs. So why shit on black folks? Why shit on rappers? Why aren't we critiquing wealth by taking hits at golf or polo or Central Park East?
"Why not take to task the bankers and old-money folks who actually have a hand in perpetuating and increasing wealth inequality? I'm gonna take a guess: racism."
Watch the video for 'Royals' below
In a new interview with The Guardian, Azalea, who recently criticised Lorde's Nirvana tribute as "inappropriate", has defended the singer.
"I didn't know Lorde was a big old racist" she told the paper (sarcastically). "Me, I've been called everything but it kind of irks me to think that they said that about a 17-year-old. Don't say that about a kid! You cannot erase those things, they are there forever."
She added: "I also think it is a generational thing, a misunderstanding. When I think of Royals – "gold chains, diamonds on your timepiece" – I think about Tumblr kids. She was talking about the aesthetic of Tumblr. The people writing the music see it one way, the consumers see it another. And anyway, is rap really that much of a stereotype?
"To say that rap is a guy in chains and baggy pants popping bottles in a club is stereotyping black culture. That has never been my aesthetic. I'm not wearing chains and big hoop earrings. I love the fact that I don't rap the way I talk – I think it's completely hilarious and ironic and cool."
Azalea also discussed her recent collaboration with Charli XCX on 'Fancy', and how she had little to do with the decision to include the singer. "I have no idea how that song with Charli came about," she said. "I have no idea how she got on it - they decided it would be a good idea and I found out later. I thought, 'She sounds good, let's keep her!'"
Azalea's debut album, The New Classic, was released in April.
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