Iggy Azalea isn’t holding back when it comes to her former record label. Over the weekend, the 34-year-old “Fancy” rapper took to X (formerly Twitter) to call out Universal Music Group, claiming they owe her “millions of dollars” in unpaid royalties.
“Crazy how in my entire career I was never paid a single royalty by Universal Music for anything outside of the USA,” Iggy wrote, setting the record straight on what she says has been years of financial injustice.
“They owe me millions of dollars in back pay, that they technically stole from me, as per my contract I am due payment,” she continued. “The amount owed is in the 8-figure range. Last week they tried to respond to my lawyer and offer me a settlement of 18k. I’m told this is a normal response from their lawyers and after appearing in court they end up paying millions as they’re supposed to.”
Iggy made it clear that she isn’t backing down. “Thankfully I’m well off and can and will pursue this issue until they pay me what they owe. But I’d like to publicly say that I think Universal Music are criminals who actively take advantage of ALL of their artists in perpetuity for their own gain. They are the scummiest company and they do this to SO MANY artists who unfortunately can’t afford to fight for what they’re owed thus they get away with this behavior.”
She wrapped up her statement by calling for change: “Universal Music really needs to do better in their treatment of the artists who quite literally earn them millions via intellectual property they had zero part in creating. Yuck.”
Iggy first signed with Island Records (a Universal subsidiary) in 2017 before exiting the label a year later. She then moved on to partner with Empire, where she launched her own label, Bad Dreams. It’s clear she’s determined to see this fight through—and she’s not staying quiet about it.
