The music video for Iggy Azalea’s song “Fancy” is an homage to the movie Clueless. But it isn’t fun. (Photo courtesy Island)
The name Iggy is kind of sacrosanct. Because of Iggy Pop: one of the most important pop musicians ever. So would this Iggy Azalea I’ve been hearing of so much lately be a worthy homage to the seminal punk rocker?
No such luck.
This Australian woman is no rebel, no artist, no philosopher as Iggy Pop is. Not even close.
She’s a rapper who is so affected her song almost seems like a parody. (She actually says “Who dat?” in this song.) It’s not far from a bad Saturday Night Live skit. Her rapping style doesn’t come from any real or natural flow of language. It all sounds bogus to me.
But it’s not the only bad song in the Top 40 this month. I almost picked Chris Brown‘s song “Loyal” as the worst song. What does Brown have to say? Basically this: “I can take anyone woman’s away. But you can’t trust any of these women anyway. They’re all just out for money and to hook up with whoever the most famous dude is.”
It’s a depressing and disturbing sexist message. But the message in Azalea’s song bothers me more.
Because it’s narcissism masquerading as self-empowerment.
Because I’m a material girl: rapper Iggy Azalea’s song “Fancy” is all about excess, narcissism, and making lots of money. (Photo courtesy Island)
We’ve got to start making some distinctions here. Narcissism and egoism is not self-empowerment. And sadly for these women, it’s all about using sexuality and materialism to give the illusion of healthy feminine confidence. Dudes do it too. Their hyper masculinity is an illusion of empowerment.
Why does this bother me so much? I’ve been reading a lot of Thomas Merton lately. And the great Catholic theologian says you aren’t going to get anywhere by living out a life being a slave to all your impulses and senses. But I think any spiritual practice emphasizes reducing the kind of egocentric boasting and desires that are in this song.
Just go back through any of the worst songs that I’ve selected from the Top 40 each month and they have a lot in common. Doesn’t matter if they’re sung by men or women, the messages are similar.
And in “Fancy” Azalea says what she likes and wants us to know about her:
- The only good party is an excessive one: She likes expensive alcohol which she name drops several liquor brands. (Maybe she was paid to do it? Product placement has invaded music too.) She always takes her drinks straight. And she never needs a chaser. She also likes getting drunk at mini-bars and trashing hotel rooms. And she has so much champagne she can spill it all over the place. The feeling here is of total excess, not just having a good time with a few drinks.
- She’s a bad girl the dudes want: She can get down low, hold you down. And she knows that dudes really want her.
- Department stores? No-No: They’re not for her. She’s gotta go other places to buy her clothes. She wears high heels, expensive jewelry, and likes gold. She’s got a lot of money to throw around too.
- She takes money seriously: Don’t diss her when it comes to getting her the money. It’s all about getting paid, she says.
- All this consumption makes her fancy: Somehow all this consumerism puts her in the category of being “fancy.” Say what?
Here’s the music video for “Fancy”:
