In the summer of 2014, Australian rapper Iggy Azalea was poised to be the next big “it” girl. Charli XCX’s irresistibly catchy feature on Azalea’s brazen electro-hop track “Fancy” led it to be the bonafide song of the summer, spending seven weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 and spawning a widely viewed “Clueless”-inspired music video.

Fast forward to the summer of 2015, and Azalea is now the punchline of memes, Vines and gossip blogs. Her rapid-fire freestyles and pop-rap sensibilities are now mocked online. Her planned spring arena tour was postponed to the fall, then eventually cancelled. Her last two lead singles failed to make an impact on the charts, and the minor success of her duet with pop princess Britney Spears, “Pretty Girls,” is mainly due to the legendary singer’s fan base, and even they didn’t like it that much.

Highs and lows happen throughout every artist’s career, but Azalea’s fall from grace commenced much sooner than most, and the fallout seems to be more damaging. However, the backlash mainly comes down to one person: Azalea herself.

For starters, Azalea has a problematic history with the black community. Her decision to adopt a “blacker” sounding voice while rapping has rubbed African-Americans the wrong way as she has no ties to their community. Even the practice of positing one tone of voice as blacker than the other showcases how problematic Azalea proved to be. Azalea referring to herself as a “runaway slave master” in the song “D.R.U.G.S.” did not help her image as a culture appropriating artist. Furthermore, as a privileged white rapper, Azalea has refused to acknowledge the black origins of hip-hop and her position within its community. Even when black rappers tried to teach her its origins, as Q-Tip famously attempted on Twitter, she blatantly brushed off the good-natured history lesson.

To be fair, resentment toward Azalea’s privileged position in the music industry is not totally her fault. Rather, it’s due to the industry using her appearance and appeal to sell music in a genre created by black artists in order to make it more marketable for the mainstream public. Many talented black hip-hop artists are getting paid dust because of this corrupt system, but Azalea is glaringly ignorant of it and does nothing to help.

While Azalea’s backlash as a white rapper can be attributed to her being a woman, famous white male rappers like Eminem and Macklemore not only acknowledge their position in the industry but also pay respect to the roots of the hip-hop community and raise awareness to issues in the African-American sphere. Azalea has simply failed to display the impressive virtues and self-awareness that these two possess, which has ultimately led to her demise.

The forecast for a successful Azalea comeback seems bleak, but the feat is still possible. Azalea must emerge from her state of blissful ignorance, apologize for her inaction and become educated on hip-hop and her place in the genre. If she wants to continue making rap music, she must stop appropriating cultures for her own benefit. Azalea has to make changes to her character if she wants to rise back to the top, and if the past is any indicator, that may be a challenge.

A version of this article appeared in the Thursday Oct. 22 print edition. Email Jake at [email protected].