Image by Def Jam Records
Audio By Carbonatix
On her 2013 single “Work,” Australian rapper turned crypto entrepreneur Iggy Azalea sang, “No money, no family, 16 in the middle of Miami.” It’s a brief summary of the backstory Azalea told anyone who listened back when her career was gaining mainstream recognition: At 16, she left Australia and moved to America, landing in Miami with the hope of one day making it as a rapper.
In 2014, she released her debut album, the New Classic, featuring Azalea standing in front of a pink house that suspiciously looks like a somewhat average South Florida home. So when a Redditor posted the cover on r/Miami, asking, “Where is this?” everyone started throwing out theories of the house being located somewhere in Hialeah.
“I can hear the chancla whistling through the air in this image,” one user wrote. Another opined, “What makes me think Hialeah (although all of Miami has this) is not the house itself but the gated door.”
However, it was another person’s careful observation that got them closer to the answer: “Has to be North Miami Beach because of the hydrant colors in the other pic.”
The house was correctly identified by another user as being located at 1401 NW 137th St., just north of Claude Pepper Park, in the unincorporated area situated directly west of the City of North Miami known as Biscayne Gardens.
Sure enough, all the architectural elements are still there, including the natural stone accents and the solar attic fan on the roof. The only thing that has changed is the front door, with the ornate wrought-iron security door seemingly gone and replaced by a simpler white front door.
One Redditor believed that the South Florida backdrop was Photoshopped into Azalea’s album cover. “The house is photoshopped as the background. She’s was not there. Zoom in and you can see it much clearer – especially around the rim of her glasses,” they asserted. However, there is proof that Azalea was in fact present for the photoshoot, so no, this isn’t a Photoshopped background.
While the New Classic launched Azalea into superstardom, thanks to singles like “Black Widow” with Rita Ora and her collaboration with Charli XCX, “Fancy,” Azalea would soon face accusations of cultural appropriation and adopting a “blaccent” when rapping.” However, the nail in the coffin of Azalea’s career came in the form of a video from Azalea’s poor attempt at freestyling during a performance at Splash! Festival in Germany.
Azalea’s career never recovered from the fallout, with her career becoming more of a joke instead of being taken seriously. After releasing two more albums, 2019’s In My Defense and 2021’s The End of an Era, Azalea announced she was retiring from music in 2024. Since then, she’s turned to the world of cryptocurrency, launching the memecoin $MOTHER, and has moved back to Miami.
