Why has Chanel said that there doesn’t seem to be room for lots of talented women in rap and hip hop? Because at one point, her label purposefully sidelined her specifically due to another female rapper with a similar vibe, Iggy Azalea, blowing up just as Chanel was supposed to be recording her debut album. For her, the issue is personal.
Chanel says that she felt like the manufactured competition between her and Iggy meant that she had to wait out Iggy’s big moment and just be patient until she got another chance to take the spotlight. At one point, Chanel and her manager even got into a big fight over whether or not being a little more like Iggy would actually help her career. “When I first started rapping, I was, like, ‘I’m gonna be, like, the female Eminem,’” Chanel told LA Weekly. “So to see somebody blowing up in my position… it was the hardest.”