Understanding the social constructions of authenticity within hip-hop music: Iggy Azalea a white, Australian artist.

Abstract

By looking at the positioning of race within hip-hop music alongside its social construction of authenticity this study aims to analyse the extent to which white, Australian artist, Iggy Azalea can be argued to be authentic in terms of her alignment with hip-hop's notions of authenticity. Using Iggy Azalea as a case study, discourse analysis is used to closely analyse the language in thirteen online newspaper articles from both British and American papers. The study enters into preliminary discussion of the relevant existing literature surrounding the constructions of race throughout history and within popular music culture as well as theories of hip-hop's constructed authenticity. The recurring theories and ideas are applied to the findings from the articles and analysed leading to conclusions surrounding Azalea's position within hip-hop as an authentic artist. Key words: authenticity, Iggy Azalea, race, whiteness, African-American culture, hip-ho