"Fancy" is a song by Australian rapper
Iggy Azalea featuring British singer
Charli XCX, taken from the former's debut studio album, The New Classic (2014). It was released on 17 February 2014 by
Def Jam Recordings as the fourth
single from the album. "Fancy" was described as an
electro-hop,
electropop, and
pop rap song. It was written by Azalea[1] and XCX, composed and produced by production team
the Invisible Men, alongside additional producers
the Arcade. It was
leaked under the title "Leave It" in December 2013.
"Fancy" reached number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, becoming both Azalea's and XCX's first number-one on that chart. It held the spot for seven consecutive weeks. It also topped the charts in Canada and New Zealand and had general chart success around the world. It reached the top ten in several countries such as Azalea's native country Australia and the United Kingdom. It is XCX's second top-ten single, after her guest spot on
Icona Pop's "
I Love It" in 2013. "Fancy" was named Billboard's Song of the Summer for 2014, as well as the most-streamed song on
Spotify and most-watched music video on
Vevo in 2014. It won the Top Rap Song category at the
2015 Billboard Music Awards and was nominated for
Record of the Year and
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the
57th Grammy Awards.[2] It is one of the
best-selling singles worldwide, with combined sales and track-equivalent streams of 9.1 million units according to
IFPI.[3] In 2017, Billboard named "Fancy" as the biggest hit by a female rapper in history.[4]
"Fancy" is a three-minute and 19-second
electro-hop,
electropop, and
pop rap song,[5][6] which was written by
Iggy Azalea and
Charli XCX. The song was also composed and co-produced by
the Invisible Men (Jason Pebworth, George Astasio and Jon Shave) and the Arcade (Kurtis Mckenzie).[7] The song is played in the key of
C minor without any
chord progression followed, and
Charli XCX's vocals range from G3 to C5. It is in
common time and is played at a
tempo of 95 beats per minute.[8] The song features stabby synths and repeated
hip hop chants of the word 'hey', which bear similarities to
DJ Mustard's produced songs. Finger snaps are heard in the original mix.[5]
Release
On 5 December 2013, an unfinished song by Azalea, which surfaced with the title "Leave It", was
leaked online.[9][10][11] Azalea later revealed the song was produced by
the Invisible Men and the Arcade, whom she collaborated with on her entire album.[12] On 5 February 2014, Azalea announced that she would be releasing a new single titled "Fancy", featuring English singer-songwriter
Charli XCX, later that week.[13] The song was premiered on BBC Radio 1 Xtra the evening of 6 February 2014. After the song's premiere, it was revealed "Fancy" was the song that had leaked titled "Leave It".[citation needed] On 17 February 2014, the song was serviced to
urban contemporary radio in the United Kingdom as the album's fourth single.[14]
Critical reception
"Fancy" received overall positive reception from
music critics. Brad Stern of MTV Buzzworthy remarked, "Not since
Fergie's '
Glamorous' has there been such a spectacularly sass-filled ode to the glam life," praising their chemistry, calling it "a match made in heaven that we never would've expected."[15] Chris Tomas of Hip Hop Wired wrote that the song "could be the hit record Iggy Azalea has been looking for," noting that "Charli XCX also provides a very potent chorus that women will be chanting in their clubs, cars, and the like."[16] Mike Wass of Idolator claimed the track is "the duet we've all been waiting for" and "a swag-drenched hip hop/pop delight."[17] Janice Llamoca of Hip Hop DX defined it as "a hip hop-slash-pop party anthem in which the emcee lyrically displays her confidence."[18]
Joe Gross of Rolling Stone gave the song a mixed score of 3 out of 5 stars, writing that Azalea "deftly handles the ratchet beat while Charli XCX's earworm hook holds it all down," writing that the song "[doesn't] bring '88 back [but] they can swing on chandeliers with the best of them".[19] Jamie Parmenter of Renowned for Sound noted that the song showed the influence of
Missy Elliott, and that "Iggy is almost playing a character or parody of herself like
Eminem is renowned for," praising Charli XCX for "nicely breaking up the song, sounding like an edgy
Gwen Stefani, matching with Iggy's rebel style."[20] Bill Lamb of About.com, like Jake Gross, gave a mixed response, but echoed the same thought as Parmenter, praising "Charli XCX's Gwen Stefani styled vocals on the chorus" and noting that its lyrics has been done even better by Stefani nearly 10 years ago on '
Luxurious'." However, Lamb also stated that the entire song seemed "a bit too recycled" and had a "tiresome obsession with material culture delivered with a straight face."[21] The track was placed at number nineteen on Rolling Stones's 50 Best Songs of 2014 list.[22] It was named
iTunes' best song of 2014 on
Apple's annual Best-Ofs.[23] "Fancy" was also placed at number one on
MTV's Best Songs of 2014.[24]The Village Voice's
Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll listed "Fancy" at number 26 on their poll for the best music of 2014, along with
Ariana Grande's "
Problem", on which Azalea was featured.[citation needed]
Chart performance
In the United States, "Fancy" has peaked at number one, becoming Azalea's first song to chart on the top of the
Billboard Hot 100. The song is Charli XCX's second top 10 as a featured artist on the Hot 100 — the first being "
I Love It" — and her first number 1. On the issue date 17 May 2014 "Fancy" reached number two of the BillboardDigital Songs chart, selling 222,000 units, occupying simultaneously the top two slots of the chart as "
Problem" by
Ariana Grande, in which Azalea featured, debuted at the summit of Digital Songs chart. With this achievement, Azalea became only the sixth artist to occupy the top two position and the first to do so since
Taylor Swift with the singles "
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "
Ronan" in 2012.[25] Azalea also became just the third female artist to place her first two Hot 100 hits in the top five simultaneously, first two being
Ashanti and
Mariah Carey.[26] It also marked Azalea as the first female rapper ever to have two songs concurrently in the top five of the Hot 100 chart.[27] Moreover, Azalea passed
Lil' Kim as the female rapper with the longest-leading number one on the Billboard Hot 100[28] and moved into a tie for fifth place among lead women who have scored the longest commands on the Hot 100 during the 2010s. The song led the chart for seven weeks, before being succeeded by
MAGIC's "
Rude". "Fancy" remained in the top ten for 17 consecutive weeks.[29]
On the following week, Azalea became only the second artist in the nearly 10-year history of the Hot Digital Songs chart to have the top two songs concurrently for two weeks and, eventually, for three consecutive weeks.[30] On the week-ending 31 May 2014 the song ascended to number two on the Billboard Hot 100, selling 234,000 units, topped the
Streaming Songs chart with 8.4 million impressions and continued to dominate the On-Demand Songs chart for a third week.[31] As it led the Streaming Songs chart for a thirteenth week it tied
Miley Cyrus' "
Wrecking Ball" for the most weeks tallied at number one.[32] "Fancy" also reached number one on
Billboard's
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and
Hot Rap Songs, where it remained for 16 and 18 weeks respectively making it the longest running number one on these charts.[33][34] Additionally, she is the first female Australian artist to top the Hot 100 since
Olivia Newton-John reached the summit in 1981 with "
Physical".[35] Along with "
Problem", Azalea has the distinction of being the first act to have its first two Hot 100-charting singles at numbers one and two at the same time since
the Beatles, as "Fancy" and "Problem" did, respectively.[36] She is also only the second female artist to have the top 2 singles for multiple weeks, with the first being Ashanti.[37] Azalea also became the fourth female rapper to top the
Mainstream Top 40 chart.[38] The song set new single-week records on
Spotify's U.S. streaming service for four consecutive weeks.[39] On 3 September 2014, "Fancy" was named Billboard's top Song of the Summer for 2014 having led their weekly Songs of the Summer chart from start to finish.[40] "Fancy" was also named the most streamed song on Spotify in America in 2014.[41] The song became the fifth best-selling song of 2014 in the United States with 3,970,000 copies sold for the year.[42] By 5 February 2015, the song had sold 4,100,000 copies.[43]
In the United Kingdom, "Fancy" became her highest charting single as a lead artist at the time, debuting at number five on the
UK Singles Chart and selling 38,320 copies in its first week.[44] In Australia, the song peaked at number five and has been certified quadruple platinum for sales of over 280,000 copies.[45] In its ninth week on the
New Zealand Singles Chart, the song climbed from number three to the top position,[46] giving Azalea her second number-one single there, after
Ariana Grande's "
Problem", having replaced herself at the top, and first number-one there as a lead artist. It also marks
Charli XCX's second top-ten single, after
Icona Pop's "
I Love It", and first number-one single in
New Zealand. It has also been certified Platinum in New Zealand.[47] The track had sold over 7 million copies worldwide, as of October 2014, making it one of the
best-selling singles worldwide.[48] On 23 December 2014, it was certified Triple Platinum in
Canada after peaking at number one on the
Canadian Hot 100,[49] with 346,000 copies sold digitally throughout 2014.[50] According to the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), "Fancy" achieved combined sales and track-equivalent streams of 9.1 million units in 2014, ranking as the seventh best-selling single of the year.[3]
Music video
Background
The music video for the song was shot in February 2014 in
Los Angeles and premiered on 4 March 2014, on
Vevo.[51] Directed by
Director X, the visuals are inspired by the famous 1990s
coming-of-agecomedy filmClueless, with Azalea playing Beverly Hills socialite Cher Horowitz and XCX as Tai Frasier. The cast also includes a redheaded rival filling in as Amber, and the brief character appearance of Dionne and Murray lookalikes, with Troy Bronson portraying Elton Tiscia, in a remake of the
cult classic originally starring
Alicia Silverstone,
Stacey Dash,
Elisa Donovan,
Brittany Murphy,
Paul Rudd, and
Jeremy Sisto.[52][53] On 4 March,
behind the scenes footage for "Fancy" was released shortly before the music video premiere.[54] Over 250
extras were individually styled, taking over two weeks to prepare the styling for the video.[55][56] The video shoot was the very first time Azalea and XCX met in person.[57]
Synopsis
Many scenes in the video are remakes of key Clueless scenes, with outfits designed to channel the look of the film's clothing, but with a slight update.[56] Like Clueless, the music video for "Fancy" was shot in Los Angeles'
Grant High School.[59]
The video opens with Azalea in her wardrobe finding the perfect outfit for a speech at school, using a tablet computer, similar to the protagonist of Clueless Cher Horowitz. After a scene with some
cheerleaders, the video moves to the schoolyard; there, Charli XCX and Azalea are sitting at a table, with the former singing the hook. The video later includes a
tennis lesson, with Azalea and others dancing close to a
chain-link fence. Azalea with two other characters are seen driving in the
highway; the characters of the best friend and her boyfriend are inspired by the role of Dionne Davenport and her boyfriend Murray. The video shifts to a modern version of the Christmas "Val party" from the movie, where the two protagonists arrive with their
convertible. The video ends with Azalea and XCX in the school.[citation needed]
Reception
Chanel Parks of The Huffington Post wrote: "While it might be a little, dare we say it, sacrilegious to replicate this cult classic – we were wondering when there was going to be a music video homage to our favorite movie of all time. So props to you, Iggy."[60] Brent Taalur Ramsey of Paste magazine praised the video, writing that "Azalea combined a quintessential 90s culture moment with her hip-hop vibes [...] this young Aussie brought it all together with some major beats and classic outfits—a sound and look that will be totally trending in the music world of 2014."[61] It was named one of the 24 most iconic fashion moments in music videos by Harper's Bazaar.[62] Amy Heckerling, the director of Clueless, reacted to Azalea and the video in an interview saying, "It looked like they had more money for the video than I had for the movie. But I was extremely flattered and I thought she was amazing."[63] Original actors from the movie including Silverstone, Dash, Donovan and
Donald Faison also complimented the homage.[64][65][66][67]
The music video was nominated for four awards at the
2014 MTV Video Music Awards for Video of the Year, Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Best Art Direction. On 19 June, the music video surpassed the 100 million view benchmark, making it Azalea's first Vevo Certified music video.[68] "Fancy" was named the most-watched music video of 2014 on Vevo in America.[69] It was the most-watched video in 2014 on
YouTube in Australia.[70] It has amassed over 1 billion views as of January 2021. Entertainment Weekly named it the best music video of 2014 saying, "A detail-obsessed ode to Clueless—that highway scene! Those knee socks!—that made everybody fall butt-crazy in love with Iggy. The nostalgia trip probably fueled a lot of the popularity of "Fancy," but don't get it twisted: Azalea is a star, and all she needed was the right role to convince the world that was true."[71] In January 2015, Billboard named it the fifth best music video of the 2010s so far.[72]
On 28 April 2014, Jimmy Fallon lip-synched the song in a "Lip Sync Battle" against actress
Emma Stone on The Tonight Show.[84] On 15 May 2014, "Fancy" was the featured song on Jimmy Kimmel Live's "New Lyrics for Old People" skit, featuring host
Jimmy Kimmel and Iggy Azalea.[85] In August 2015, gin brand
Tanqueray used a 1920s
jazz version of the track for their "Tonight We Tanqueray" campaign.[86]Jazz fusion and
funk band
the New Mastersounds featured a reggae cover of the song on their 2015 album Made for Pleasure.[87] It was
sampled on
Jidenna's 2015 song "
Classic Man."[88]
"Fancy" has been performed on various
reality television singing competitions. It was covered by Rising Star contestant Egypt Dixon on the second week of the show. Reagan James performed "Fancy" on The Voice season 7. Mitch Miller performed a jazz-inspired version of the track on The Voice UK season 4's auditions,[89] while Joey Cook performed her rendition of the song on
season 14 of American Idol.[90]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201424 into search. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201423 into search. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201423 into search. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201429 into search. Retrieved 21 July 2014.