Songfacts®:

• Iggy Azalea blew up with "Fancy," a #1 hit for seven weeks in the summer of 2014. The bouncy hip-pop song has an intriguing retro-synth sound that frames her Dirty South-inspired flow. Listeners hearing her for the first time were surprised to learn she's white.
  
  Azalea grew up in Sydney, Australia listening to American acts like Missy Elliott and Outkast. Her drawl she carefully developed. It sounds nothing like her speaking voice, which makes the first line a bit ironic: "First things first I'm the realest."
  
  Some were skeptical, but most listeners were intrigued by Azalea and embraced her sound. It ended up being her musical peak; she had another hit later that year with "Black Widow," but a few years later the industry turned on her as cultural appropriation became a hot-button issue in America. In 2024, 10 years after "Fancy," she announced her retirement from music.
  
  "The hardest thing about it was seeing the way that the other artists in the music industry would distance themselves from me publicly," she told ABC News. "Over time I just got tired of it."
• Charli XCX came up with the rowdy hook ("I'm so fancy... you already know"), which she sings on the track. This was the second breakout hit for the British singer, following her contribution to Icona Pop's, "I Love It" from 2012.
  
  "It's been massively different for me, on a personal level and on a Charli XCX level," Charli told Billboard magazine. "With 'I Love It,' there was never a plan for me to go and write for Icona Pop - they were just there, and it happened, and no one really knew what was going on."
  
  "Then it was a bit of a mess that turned into a stressful experience, and something that I didn't really enjoy," she continued. "They were traveling the world and it was great, but I never felt part of that process, partly due to the nature of the song and how it sounds. I never really felt like it was my song."
  
  "With Iggy, it's been the flip side of that," Charli added. "From the start, Iggy has been like, 'This is your song as well as my song,' which I think is very nice of her, and it made me very excited about the song. I feel valued."
• Iggy Azalea started getting attention in 2012 when she was part of XXL magazine's "Freshman Class" along with French Montana, Kid Ink, Future, Machine Gun Kelly and a few others. Her first three singles - "Work," "Bounce" and "Change Your Life" - were all hits in the UK in 2013 but weren't released in America. "Fancy" premiered on Mistajam's BBC Radio 1Xtra show on February 6, 2014 and was released in the UK two months later, charting a #5. In America it was her debut single and "Work" was released as the follow-up, going to #54. All of these songs appeared Iggy's debut album, The New Classic, produced by The Invisible Men, a team whose other clients include Katy B and Ellie Goulding.
• The music video was directed by Director X (Ciara's "Body Party," Drake's "Started from the Bottom"). The clip pays homage to the classic 1995 film Clueless with Iggy playing Cher and Charli portraying Tai. It was filmed at some of the same locations used in the movie.
• It had been a minute since a new female rapper caught on in America. The previous female rapper with a hit debut was M.I.A., who ascended to #4 with "Paper Planes" in 2008.
• When "Fancy" climbed to #1 on the Hot 100, Azalea's collaboration with Ariana Grande, "Problem," jumped to #2 on the tally. The Australian rapper became the first act since the Beatles to simultaneously occupy the top two spots with their first Hot 100 hits.
• Azalea was the fourth solo female rapper in Billboard's Hot 100 history to have a #1 hit. The previous three were Lauryn Hill, who topped the chart with "Doo Wop (That Thing)" in 1998; Lil Kim, who hooked up with Christina Aguilera, Mya and Pink on "Lady Marmalade" in 2001; and Shawnna, who reached the summit of the Hot 100 two years later with Ludacris on "Stand Up."
• "Fancy" was originally an unfinished song by Azalea titled "Leave It," which was leaked online on December 5, 2013. The Invisible Men then approached Charli XCX about adding a killer pop hook. Azalea's key line, "Who dat who dat... I-G-G-Y" leaped out at her.
  
  "I was so into it. I wanted to make it into, like, a 2014 girl power moment," XCX told Billboard magazine. "There aren't enough high-profile female collaborations happening."
• Azalea admitted to The Observer that she has "no idea" how her hook-up with Charli XCX came about. "I have no idea how she got on it," she said. "They decided it would be a good idea and I found out later. I thought, she sounds good, let's keep her!"
• "Weird Al" Yankovic transformed this song into the anthem of a cocky Mr. Fix-it in "Handy" from his 2014 album, Mandatory Fun.
• MTV named "Fancy" their best song of 2014. They said: "Combining hip-hop, pop and electronic sounds with verses from the Australian rapper and an infectious hook from Charli XCX, the track became an inescapable smash: It hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100; collected 380 million YouTube views; was performed on TV and at award shows; earned constant radio play; and spawned multiple parodies."
• Charli XCX had to search for the chorus melody to "Fancy" more than she's ever had to before. "Normally I'm very instinctual and spontaneous when it comes to melodies," she told Apple Music. "With 'Fancy,' I had to really maneuver my brain around different corners to figure it out - to understand the formation of the notes."
• The careers of Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX went in sharply different directions following "Fancy." Azalea had another hit from The New Classic album with "Black Widow," but her next releases didn't do much damage and any credibility she had in the hip-hop community began fading away. In 2023 she added millions to her coffers, but not with music - it was her haul from her OnlyFans account.
  
  Charli XCX, meanwhile, continued her high-profile collaborations with the likes of Camila Cabello ("OMG"), BTS ("Dream Glow") and Shawn Mendez ("Señorita"). She joined the list of top-tier songwriter/producers and also thrived as a solo artist, reaching new heights in 2024 with her album Brat.