At the start of the month, rapper Iggy Azalea was pegged among a handful of Aussie artists set to crack America, and now the Sydney-bred, LA-based musician has – in a big way.

The 23-year-old MC’s current single ‘Fancy’, which sees her sparring with Charli XCX, has hit #1 on the Billboard charts, backed up at #2 by ‘Problem’ her collaboration with US singer Ariana Grande. This unique feat makes Iggy Azalea the second artist ever – in 50 years – to hold down the top two spots simultaneously.

The first was back in February 1964, when The Beatles occupied #1 and #2 with ‘I Want To Hold Your hand’ and ‘She Loves You’ (respectively), as Billboard details.

On top of the surprise that no-one’s managed to achieve the back-to-back chart feat (not even Michael Jackson!?), Iggy Azalea also works her way into the history books by also being the first Australian female performer to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 since Olivia Netwon-John’s ‘Physical’ topped the charts in 1981 and the third woman to rank the top two concurrently, following Mariah Carey (in 2005) and Ashanti (in 2002).

Not only that, Azalea is only one of four femcees to reach #1, the others being Lauryn Hill (‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’ in 1998), Lil’ Kim (as part of the ‘Lady Marmalade’ collab with Christina Aguilera, Mya, and Pink in 2001) and Shawnna (on Ludacris’ 2003 single ‘Stand Up’).

Iggy Azalea tweeted her satisfaction with The Beatles-matching feat shortly after the news broke.

The Clueless-referencing music video for her current US #1 is also just shy of 60 million views on YouTube, while ‘Problem’ is around half that again. View both songs below. 


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