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Questlove Stands Up for Iggy Azalea

The Roots drummer crowns "Fancy" the "song of the summer," admits to being "torn" over his opinion.

Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" single has been crowned the "song of the summer" by Questlove. In speaking to Time magazine about his new SoundClash music series on VH1 and some of his favorite songs out right now, the Philly-born musician stood up for Azalea and her music.

Even though he thinks her single is "effective and catchy as hell," he's not exactly for, or against, Azalea. "I'm caught in between. And I defend it," explained Questlove. "I see false Instragram posts like, 'She said the N-word! She said the N-word! I'll call people out. 'You don't troll.' I know you're ready to give your 42-page dissertation on theGrio about why this is culture vulture-ism. We as Black people have to come to grips that hip hop is a contagious culture. If you love something, you gotta set it free."

"Fancy" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for more than five weeks straight. The reception of the song signifies a change in hip hop, according to Questlove. "Above any song that I've heard or dealt with, ["Fancy"] is a game-changer in the fact that we're truly going to have to come to grips with the fact that hip hop has spread its wings," he said.

Azalea is one of many Aussie recording acts Questlove has been listening to, and he's noticed a trend. Down Under, the music is "more soulful" than what is being put out in the states. "When you think soul music and Aretha Franklin and the Baptist-born singer, that's sort of an idea of the past," he said. "As Black people, we're really not in church as we used to be, and that's reflecting in the songs now." 

Getting back to Azalea, Questlove admitted to being "torn" between the opinions online, adding, "But I'mma let Iggy be Iggy. It's not even politically correct dribble. The song is effective."

He does however want Azalea to drop the Southern accent. "Part of me hopes she grows out of that and says it with her regular dialect –– I think that would be cooler," he said. "But, yeah, 'Fancy' is the song of  the summer." 

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(Photos from left: Michael N. Todaro/WireImage, John Parra/Getty Images)

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