story / Heather Seidler
photos / Mallory Turner
Aug 9th, 9pm on an end-of-summer Saturday night, Iggy Azalea–one of the hottest pop stars on the planet, enters the stage on the pier of Santa Monica. Peacocking in skin-tight neon high-waisted pants and crop top, she rapid fire raps through her first song like the reigning superstar she is. Flanked by her well-rehearsed back up dancers, she shows her fans exactly just how fancy her fancy is, twerks and all. With her bounce inciting beats, the crowd hip-hopped along to every word, through the drizzly cold evening.
When it’s a gloomy Saturday and you’re surrounded by selfie-snapping youngsters, with a shit-it’s-really-fall chill in the air, there’s only one thing to lift your spirits, and that’s Iggy Azalea asserting her need for diamonds with all her swagger and sauce. Sure Iggy’s lyrical themes aren’t dug from the deepest well: Drop it. Pop it. Spend it. Forget it. Fuck it. But listen, when YOU hold the title of second longest-running No. 1 in Rap Chart history—tying the Beatles chart record, then YOU can show people you’re The Future of Fucking Fabulous too, m’kay?
The free outdoor concert, presented by Pandora, also featured fellow chart toppers Rita Ora and Magic!, all 3 acts performed their biggest radio hits to the eager audience of all-ages and VIPS. Ora clad in head-to-toe bandana fabric with blue hair piece and braids, commanded the crowd with her powerful voice—proving the perfect ramp up to the Azalean fever pitch festering in the crowd.
Also at the intimate event was various swag, food trucks and a free photobooth station courtesy of Amazon. At the close of the three-hour concert, Azalea graciously thanked her fans, who braved the beach briskness but hardly seemed to notice. They were whipped into a frenzy worthy of the cliché “whipped into a frenzy.”
More pictures here!
