Iggy Azalea has announced that she’s returning to music, after claiming she would be taking “a few years” off last summer.

The Australian rapper released her third and most recent studio album, ‘The End Of An Era’, in August 2021.

Shortly before it came out, Azalea took to social media to confirm that she’d be stepping back to “focus on other creative projects and things I’m feeling passionate [about] and inspired by, beyond music”.

“I’m excited for you guys to see different sides to me in the future,” she continued. “Shifting my energy and focus to what I’m most excited about is what is right for me and I hope you’ll continue to support whatever creative projects I’m out here doing!”

Azalea added: “I really love this album [‘The End Of An Era’] and I just want my fans to enjoy this with me. I hope I see so many of you on tour!”

Yesterday (August 8), almost a year since that LP came out, the artist revealed that she’ll now be making a comeback.

“A year ago I was willing to walk away from music because I was tired of the negative energy it attracted,” she tweeted.

“But what I’ve learned is that even when I’m minding my business, y’all gonna be negative AND nosey. So if I can’t have peace, neither can you. I’m coming back. Cry about it.”

A year ago I was willing to walk away from music because I was tired of the negative energy it attracted.
But what I’ve learned is that even when I’m minding my business, y’all gonna be negative AND nosey.
So if I can’t have peace, neither can you.
I’m coming back. Cry about it.

— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) August 8, 2022

One Twitter user wrote “We lost” in response to the news, to which Azalea responded: “Yup! Gonna be a terrible year for you all 2023 gear up bitch!” In a follow-up post, she added: “They can only be mad at themselves. Shoulda left me be. Now I’m on my petty Gemini shit.”

As Billboard reports, Azalea has previously called out the music industry over its treatment of female artists. “[It’s] so fucked when it comes to taking advantage of/not respecting the women successfully operating within it; as well as those aspiring to break into it,” she said in 2019. “It’s actually sad.”

More recently, she hit back at body shaming critics who commented on her appearance at Long Beach Pride: “It’s a good thing I genuinely feel happy about myself & my body cause y’all stay in every comment section talking the most shit about me & it’s very mean spirited & ugly.”

Azalea has continued to perform live over the course of this year and last, despite her retirement announcement. She is currently opening for Pitbull on his ‘Can’t Stop Us Now’ North American tour.

Since the arrival of ‘The End Of An Era’, Azalea has launched a cosmetics collection and focussed on raising her two-year-old son Onyx, whose father is Playboi Carti.