Iggy Azalea

Iggy Azalea is everywhere, at least on the Internet. Whether she’s rumored to be beefing with Nicki Minaj, being accosted by “Weird Al” Yankovic backstage after a concert, criticized for co-opting hip-hop culture or praised for arguably releasing the song of the summer, there is no denying she’s an emerging star of the future.

As Pollstar goes to press, the 24-year-old Australia native has been added to the “big print” top line of the Los Angeles edition of the Budweiser Made in America Music Festival on  August 30.  She’d just finished appearing on ESPN’s Espy Awards,

Her smash, “Fancy,” is being chased up the charts by her collaboration with Ariana Grande, “Problem.” She’s shared stages with Ariana Grande, Rita Ora, and Robin Thicke. But if what Taylor Swift said recently is true, and signs suggest it is, that stars are made in social media before the entertainment business, then Iggy Azalea is already a superstar.

More than 150 million have viewed just one official version of her “Fancy” video, and one – there are several – homemade YouTube clip of a father and daughter lip dubbing along to the song is approaching the 6 million views mark. She has 1.82 million Twitter followers and almost 3.5 million on Instagram. 

Azalea – born Amethyst Amelia Kelly in Australia – moved to the U.S. as a teenager, taking up residences in Miami, Houston and Atlanta before landing in L.A. A Wilhelmina model as well as a music artist, she began working with rapper T.I. and releasing mixtapes that were widely circulated in the hip-hop scene. T.I. introduced her to agent Cara Lewis at CAA two years ago.

She’s made much-discussed appearances at radio shows and festivals, including iHeart Ultimate Pool Party and KIIS-FM’s Weenie Roast and sold out a short run of large club shows including at San Francisco’s Fillmore in the first half of 2014. She can now add Made In America to her upcoming itinerary, which includes sets at Chicago’s Lollapalooza and Toronto’s Veld.           

Azalea and her team resolved some record label problems that delayed her major label album debut, but with The New Classic released by Island Records in April, she and her music have become almost ubiquitous in this season of Iggy Azalea.