In My Defense

Last updated

In My Defense
Iggy Azalea - In My Defense.png
Studio album by
Released19 July 2019
Recorded2018–2019
Genre Hip hop [1] [2]
Length35:32
Label
Producer
Iggy Azalea chronology
Survive the Summer
(2018)
In My Defense
(2019)
Wicked Lips
(2019)
Iggy Azalea album chronology
The New Classic
(2014)
In My Defense
(2019)
The End of an Era
(2021)

"Sally Walker" was released on March 15, 2019, as the lead single for the album. The single would experience moderate success, reaching number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 27 on the US Rhythmic Chart, marking Iggy's first appearance on both charts, since her single "Kream" in 2018. The song was also performed in Las Vegas, Nevada on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! Show. The music video was released the same day as the single's release and featured a cameo from YouTuber James Charles.[ citation needed ]

The second single "Started" was released on May 3, 2019, and reached number 20 on the Songs Bubbling Under Hot 100 and 76 on UK Singles Chart. Its music video was released the same day. On August 10, 2021, the RIAA certified its sales with a Gold plaque after selling 500,000 units in the United States. [17]

"Fuck It Up" featuring rapper Kash Doll was released on July 19, 2019, as the third and final single and reached number 40 on the New Zealand Hot Singles Chart.[ citation needed ]

"Just Wanna" was released as the only promotional single on June 28, 2019, alongside the album's pre-order.[ citation needed ]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 39/100 [18]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [19]
Clash 5/10 [20]
HipHopDX Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [21]
Idolator Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [22]
Pitchfork 3.8/10 [23]
New Zealand Herald Star full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [24]
Tom Hull – on the Web B+ ( Five Pointed Star Solid.svg Five Pointed Star Solid.svg Five Pointed Star Solid.svg ) [25]

In My Defense was met with negative reviews from music critics, Aggerator Metacritic the album received an average score of 39 out of 100, based on four reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [18]

AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung said that on the album Azalea "continues bragging, boasting, and fronting without any depth or sounding pleasure". [19] In a negative review, Pitchfork 's 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[ming] her songs with one-liners that sound like branded Instagram captions". He praised "Sally Walker" as the best song on the album, while "Freak of the Week" was described as "a rejected track by Megan Thee Stallion". [23] Siena Yates of New Zealand Herald said that the album "half these songs feature a good 30 seconds of Iggy just repeating the title over and over, and none of them particularly stand out". [24]

Mike Neid of Idolator stated "It's raucous and unrepentant fun. A comedown would only provide a little more depth." [22] 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 [Survive the Summer]. 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." [26] 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". [20] Tom Hull applauded the rapper for "doubl[ing] down on her hard edge here". [25]

Commercial performance

In the US, In My Defense debuted at number 50 on the US Billboard 200 with 11,261 album-equivalent units, including 5,779 pure album sales and a streaming count of 6.67 million. [27] This marks Azalea's fourth appearance on the chart. The album would also land on the US Independent Albums chart at number 6 and number 25 on the US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.

The album would peak at number 52 and 18 on the Australian Albums and Australian Urban Albums chart respectively, while also reaching number 137 on the Belgian Albums chart.

In the UK, the album did not enter the UK Albums chart but did peak at number 36 and number 35 on the UK Digital Albums and UK Independent Albums chart. It also reached number 7 on the UK R&B Albums chart.

Track listing

All tracks produced by J. White Did It, except where noted

In My Defense track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Thanks I Get"
 2:34
2."Clap Back"
 3:28
3."Sally Walker"
  • Kelly
  • Ronny Wright
 2:58
4."Hoemita" (featuring Lil Yachty) 3:03
5."Started"
  • Kelly
  • Ronny Wright
 3:06
6."Spend It"
  • Kelly / Ronny Wright
 3:12
7."Fuck It Up" (featuring Kash Doll) 2:51
8."Big Bag" (featuring Stini)
  • Kelly
  • Stini
2:49
9."Comme des Garçons"Kelly Rico Beats 3:39
10."Freak of the Week" (featuring Juicy J) 3:12
11."Just Wanna"Kelly 2:47
12."Pussy Pop"Kelly 1:53
Total length:35:32

Samples

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. [29]

Technical

Artwork

Charts

Chart performance for In My Defense
Chart (2019)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [30] 52
Australian Urban Albums (ARIA) [31] 18
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [32] 137
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA) [33] 13
UK Album Downloads (OCC) [34] 36
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [35] 35
UK R&B Albums (OCC) [36] 7
US Billboard 200 [37] 50
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [38] 6
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [39] 25

Release history

Release history for In My Defense
RegionDateFormatLabelRef.
Various19 July 2019Bad Dreams
2 August 2019 CD [40]
26 August 2019 [41]

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