Iggy Azalea slams ‘criminals’ at Universal Music as she claims they owe her millions in unpaid royalties

Iggy Azalea is making waves by publicly criticizing her former record company, Universal Music Group (UMG). 

On Saturday, the Fancy hitmaker, 34, took to X (previously known as Twitter), to claim that the company owes her ‘millions of dollars’ in unpaid royalties for her singles.

‘Crazy how in my entire career I was never paid a single royalty by universal music for anything outside of the USA,’ Iggy alleged in her post.

‘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.’

The four-time Grammy nominee went on to note that she is thankful to be in a position to afford to ‘pursue this issue until they pay’ her, unlike many smaller creators.

‘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,’ she tweeted. ‘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.’

Iggy Azalea is making waves by publicly criticizing her former record company, Universal Music Group; seen in 2022

‘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,’ Azalea concluded.

Last year, the Australian rapper shocked fans after announcing her plans to quit the music industry to focus on other creative endeavors. 

In the same post, she also confirmed she would no longer be finishing her upcoming fourth album. 

‘I know a lot of people have this idea that I was “bullied away from music” and that’s something I’ve always laughed at because I’d never be bullied out of anything! In fact, I’m too stubborn,’ Iggy began.

‘I think I’ve even resisted changes within myself at times, purely because I don’t like being viewed as someone who quits.’

Azalea explained that she feels ‘more passionately about design and creative direction’ than she does about writing music.

‘To many of you that’s no shock to read. It shows in my work. Haha! Jokes aside, i do spend a lot more time on that part of things… because Im most confident at that.’

‘That’s why I want to let you know that I’m not going to finish my album,’ she continued.

On Saturday, the Fancy hitmaker, 34, took to X (previously known as Twitter), to claim that the company owes her ‘millions of dollars’ in unpaid royalties for her singles

‘Crazy how in my entire career I was never paid a single royalty by universal music for anything outside of the USA,’ Iggy alleged in her post

Iggy said the album had been stalled while she was ‘giving direction for a different project’, and that she hasn’t felt the ‘urge’ to get back to writing.

‘I feel really happy and passionate in my day to day life when my mind’s focused on that and so I want to stick to what’s undeniably best for me,’ she said.

The Mo Bounce hitmaker concluded by apologizing to her fans, writing: ‘I know for some fans this probably makes you feel a little deflated – I’m sorry to let you down.’

The post sparked an outpouring of grief from her fans, with one commenting: ‘WAIT WHAT? So it’s really the end of an era??’ 

‘That’s so sad for us that genuinely love your music. I’m definitely one of them. but for those who really loves u and respect you, it’s really understandable. We want to see you happy,’ another added.

‘Was sad to know that we won’t have any more albums, I thought this would be the year of releases. But I’m happy to know that you’re happy with what you really want to work on. I love you,’ wrote another fan.

The four-time Grammy nominee went on to note that she is thankful to be in a position to afford to ‘pursue this issue until they pay’ her, unlike many smaller creators (pictured in 2019)

Azalea – who boasts 28.8M social media followers – is currently the creative director and co-founder of the relaunched Unreal Mobile, which integrates the $MOTHER token as a payment option. 

In August, she announced she was launching a new podcast called Mother Knows Best through The Volume where she’ll interview chart-topping musicians and trailblazing CEOs. 

‘I’m excited to start filming Mother Knows Best and stirring the pot in the way only I can,’ the platinum-blonde culture vulture told THR in a statement.

‘For a long time now I feel conversations in pop culture have become stagnant and overly cautious. I can’t wait to start a fire and blaze a trail with The Volume.’

She is also a mom to her four-year-old son Onyx Carter, who she shares with ex  Playboi Carti.