In My Defense is the second studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released on 19 July 2019, by Bad Dreams Records and Empire serving as the follow-up to The New Classic. The album contains features from Lil Yachty, Kash Doll, Juicy J, and Iggy’s protégée Stini, with production including J. White Did It, who executive produced the album with handling production on majority of its tracks, and assisted by Jazze Pha, Smash David, Go Grizzly and Rico Beats. It is strictly a hip-hop record with more aggressive and confident undertone to it, which abandons a pop-influenced sound Azalea experimented with on her debut album. In My Defense was preceded by three singles: "Sally Walker" was released on 15 March 2019, which debuted and peaked at number sixty two on Billboard Hot 100. "Started" was released as the second single on 3 May 2019. "Fuck It Up" featuring American rapper Kash Doll was released as the third and final single on the day of the album’s release. The album made Azalea the best independent female rapper of the year it peaked at no.6 in the US Independent Albums. It also debuted at number fifty on the Billboard 200 selling 17,000 equivalents in its first week. One year after its release in July 2020, "In My Defense" has earned over 300 million streams between YouTube and Spotify, worldwide.
Background
In early 2016, Azalea released "Team", the intended lead single from her second studio album, then titled Digital Distortion. Several other songs were released throughout 2016, 2017 and 2018, including the singles "Mo Bounce", "Switch" and "Savior". In late 2017, Azalea announced that the album had been shelved completely because of her ex fiancé basketball player Nick Youngcheating on her and she was working on a new record. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that she had signed to Island Records. In My Defense sold 16,000 in its first week. In mid-2018, Azalea released the extended playSurvive the Summer, which includes the RIAA-certified single, "Kream", featuring Tyga. Several months after the EP's release, Azalea announced she had left Island Records and had become an independent unsigned artist. In August 2018, Azalea expressed her anticipation to record her album on Twitter. In November, Azalea signed a multi-million dollar distribution deal with Empire after her departure from Island Records. In February 2019, Azalea announced the first single release, "Sally Walker". The single was released on 15 March 2019. The second single "Started" was released along with its music video on 3 May 2019. Azalea also teased an upcoming collaboration with Brazilian drag queenPabllo Vittar on Twitter. On 28 June 2019, "Just Wanna" was released as a promotional single along with the album pre-order.
Critical reception
In My Defense received negative reviews from music critics who criticized its lyrics and Azalea's performance, saying that the album is way below her potential. On the review aggregatorMetacritic, the album received a 39 score out of 100, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews" based on 4 critics. Album of the Year assessed the critical consensus as a 42 out of 100. Mike Neid of Idolator stated "It’s raucous and unrepentant fun. A comedown would only provide a little more depth." Craig Jenkins of Vulture stated "In My Defense is a funny follow-up to the frustrations of the Digital Distortion era because the title and cover art are ruses... It's an improvement over last year's EP . Iggy Azalea seems to be in control of her career for the first time in a long time. Not everyone in the game can say the same." Nicolas Tyrell of Clash magazine praised her overall improvement, "Azalea has improved in both her flow and story-telling in her time away from the mainstream", but noted the album as a whole is "delivered as a project that she thinks that we want to hear, as opposed to what is truly on her mind". In a negative review, Pitchforks Dani Blum wrote "The album is stacked with cartoonish approximations of what she thinks a rap song should sound like: shivers of bass, the occasional 'skrrrt,' Mad Libs of designer brands and bodily fluids. Many sound like direct imitations of the rappers she admires," and critiques the album as a whole to be "Iggy cram her songs with one-liners that sound like branded Instagram captions". He praised "Sally Walker" as the best song on the album; however, describing "Freak of the Week" as "a rejected track by Megan Thee Stallion".
