Up and comers Iggy Azalea and Ariana Grande made a solid pitch for why they’ll be sticking around for some time at the Billboard Music Awards Sunday in Las Vegas.
Azalea delivered her Top 5 hit “Fancy” in full cheerleader get-up, leading the squad while her sidekick, Charli XCX, delivered the hook with extra sass. After the hip-hop smash concluded, Azalea stuck around for Grande’s entrance, which was marked by the blaring horns of new hit “Problem.” Sporting a black-and-white dress and flaunting her powerful pipes, Grande bounced along to “Problem” and briefly ceded the floor to Azalea for her rapid-fire guest verse.
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.@ArianaGrande and @IGGYAZALEA rocking out on the #BBMAs stage. #Arianators4Life https://t.co/lxDKL1tcfl
— BillboardMusicAwards (@OfficialBBMAs) May 19, 2014
After the 20-year-old Grande debuted “Problem” at the Disney Music Awards on April 27, the song rocketed to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, dated May 17. That was thanks in part to one of the biggest sales starts ever, selling 438,000 downloads in its first week — the fourth-biggest start for a song by a female artist.
The track is the first single off Grande’s upcoming second album, due out in the fall. In addition to performing at the BBMAs, Grande is a finalist for the Top New Artist award.
Azalea’s “Fancy,” featuring Charli XCX, currently stands at No. 3 on the Hot 100. With “Problem at No. 4, Azalea is the first female rapper ever to have two songs concurrently in the top five of the Hot 100 chart.
Billboard Music Awards Video