Toronto, ON – Last night, Iggy Azalea made her Toronto debut to an excited and packed crowd at Wrongbar. The Australian starlet has attained worldwide popularity through her affiliation with T.I.’s Grand Hustle Records and The King of The South himself, but despite the fact that I have listened to and have viewed much of her recent work (over the course of the last few months), and despite the fact that her audience was ready to explode prior to her entrance, I wasn’t sure what to expect from an Iggy Azalea performance.

After her DJ’s relatively short, introductory set, which included everything from 2Pac to Drake and Meek Mill, Wrongbar erupted in commotion, as Azalea made her low key and nonchalant entrance to the stage. Soon after, she began performing many of her records from “Ignorant Art”, which is her most recent project featured on www.iggyazalea.com, including singles such as “My World”, “Hello” and her online hit, “Pu$$y”. Shealso performed some of her new, unreleased records, such as “My Money” and her collaboration with T.I (who wasn’t present), entitled “Murda Bizness”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmn0FLKRxNc

I really appreciated Azalea’s energy and stage presence and she even surprised me by briefly crowd surfing in her bright pink mini skirt, which obviously resulted in a succession of rapid-fire ass grabs.

The energy and vibe at Wrongbar was not unlike a house party and even though it was virtually impossible to move throughout the venue’s crowd, Azalea’s performance had a very intimate feel to it and according to her, Toronto is far more “turnt up” than New York or Los Angeles.

What’s more, she had some of the most memorable crowd interactions that I’ve seen from a so-called “new” Hip-Hop act, as she gave out free merchandise and invited a number of women at the venue to come on stage to dance with her. She also seemed incredibly grateful to have a fan base that has allowed her to tour North America (only a few months after she entered the blogosphere) and she gave out countless hugs to her adoring Azaleans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1jsorRVA0

After her performance and well after half of the individual sat Wrongbar had left the venue, she stayed behind to sign autographs and to take pictures with her most loyal fans, which further emphasized the fact that Iggy Azalea is a humble student of the commercial Hip-Hop world (from my perspective). I only hope that she remains as humble, as her career progresses.

What Azalea lacks in lyricism, she makes up for in charisma, style, beauty, stage presence, energy, a well-structured team and, great visuals and her overall branding. With that being said, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing and hearing far more from her and hopefully she will be coming back to Toronto (sooner than later).

Finally, HipHopCanada would like to congratulate The Substance Group on producing yet another successful and amazing event!

Written by Ajani Charles for HipHopCanada
Photography by Ajani Charles for HipHopCanada

Photography by Ajani Charles

Follow @AjaniPhoto on Twitter!

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Tags: Iggy Azalea, T.I.

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Posted by @AjaniPhoto

Ajani Charles is a published digital photographer, journalist and filmmaker based in Toronto, Canada. A graduate of the nationally acclaimed Claude Watson Arts Program, Ajani also apprenticed at the Toronto School of Art and the Art Gallery of Ontario. For Ajani the camera is a medium for self-expression and photography the ideal art form for capturing the ineffable beauty of people, objects, and landscapes. His photographs have been exhibited in such venues as the Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art, The New Era Flagship Store and the Koffler Gallery among others. In addition, Ajani has gained considerable notoriety in the Greater Toronto Area through his first photographic documentary, Project T Dot -- a visual chronicle of the city's Hip-Hop culture and community in its entirety through a wide-ranging collection of intimate and dramatic black and white photographs. Ajani counts among his many and varied clients H&M, Canadian Newswire Group, The Torstar Corporation (Eye Weekly, Sway Magazine, etc.), The Hudson’s Bay Company, Universal Music Group, ICON Digital Productions, Christian Dior, Fashion Cares, York University, Holt Renfrew, Gridcast Media, The Manifesto, Triple Threat Entertainment, The Urban Music Association of Canada, etc.