The End of an Era: Iggy Azalea’s Farewell and Look Back

Written by Zoe Tevyaw, Photography by Ethan Miller

Iggy Azalea is going out with a bang, releasing the aptly titled third studio album The End of an Era with her own label Bad Dreams Records to signify her final musical project put out in August of 2021. Azalea claims a return to her mixtape roots and nods to all her projects from the last decade, coming full-circle and drawing her musical career to a close for the foreseeable future. She told Billboard in an interview that she’s “getting to a space where [she feels] that there’s not much new perspective [she] can bring to what [she’s] doing… at least not that [she’d] be comfortable with the world hearing.” 

The record’s songs blend together innovative EDM production with the fun, energetic and slightly nostalgic sounds of early 2010’s tunes, effectively serving as a time capsule for Azalea’s work over the past decade – an intentional feeling she describes wanting from this project. The songs are split into four quarters representing her at age 20, 24, 28, and 30. In that first quarter is where listeners can hear the return to mixtape sounds with heavy electronic influence like in Trap Gold, moving the second quarter into the poppier, mainstream pieces she put out at 24. For age 28, she got darker and rap-heavy to signify projects In My Defense and Survive the Summer, and the final quarter representing where she is now with the added perspective of being a new mother – her son Pnyx recently having recently turned one recently...

Azalea, deviating from previous projects, focuses on herself and her own voice and providing fewer featured artists on the tracks – some of which are only on the deluxe version. The first single from the album,  “Sip It,,” released with a music video and is one of five5five songs with a featuring artist (Tyga). The featuring artists she did bring in, she brought in for herself. When describing how she wrote “Sex on the Beach” with Sophia Scott, she attributes the collaboration as wanting to stay “true to the intent of the song.” The rapper states she decided early that The End of an Era was more of a passion project than a record defined by and destined for commercial success.

The End of an Era found positive reviews and reception though, despite not being sales-oriented – hitting #9 on the Australian Hip Hop charts, where the artist is from, and #36 on UK R&B. Critics have noted and appreciated Azalea’s originality and status as something of a trailblazer, praising the production behind the songs and even calling the record “this generation’s Blackout.” 

To promote the record and celebrate the end of this musical era for her, Azalea went out on tour opening for Pitbull in 2021, covering 33 cities across the United States. While historically many rappers have claimed the end of their careers only to promptly join the fray again, Azalea insists that she doesn’t want to create music for the sake of creating music – she’d rather her legacy reflect the forward movement she’s created over the past decade and go out strong.

Take a trip down memory lane to reflect on the innovative and unique musical career of Iggy Azalea as it comes to a close– The End of an Era is available to listen to everywhere in both its regular LP and the deluxe versions.