Often the voice of reason in hip hop, T.I. is standing his ground again in defense of his protégé, Iggy Azalea. The Hustle Gang head honcho wants critics to stop trying to classify the First Lady of Grand Hustle and focus on her talent.

“I think her influence in music should be attributed to her work ethic, her artistic views,” T.I. told Hard Knock TV. Since Iggy stepped on the scene she’s been subjected to scrutiny for her lyrics, her Southern drawl, and rumored use of the N-word.

“She has a vision for herself, that she will not compromise, she has a certain idea of how she wants to present herself and how to platform her art,” T.I. said. “I think she should be judged based on that rather then her cred, her nationality, what country she is from … I think all of that, those are stereotypes,” he continued.

Above all T.I. doesn’t want Iggy to be placed in a box and labeled as solely a pop or rap artist. 

“When you start trying to classify people in different categories then you diminish the purpose of what we do,” the Family Hustle star said. “What we do is try to bring people together … I think she can go in a lot of different genres because she’s cross-pollinated.”  

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(Photo: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)