It's been a hell of a year for Iggy Azalea. Behind a few monster singles, the Australian hip-hop chanteuse has finally broken out of the novelty-rap ghetto and into the gated community of the mainstream. Sure, she may have accumulated a guerilla army's worth of haters along the way -- No. 1 hits will do that for you. But when Iggy-Igg bounces into Bayou Music Center tonight, she'll arrive as a hater-proof conquering superstar, practically unrecognizable from the teenager who moved to Houston in 2008 to soak up the Dirty Third sound.

Did we mention that she made the cover of Billboard? You gotta shift more than a few units to make that happen.

"This has been the year that I got signed to a major label, have released singles and am going on tour with Beyoncé next month," Azalea told the industry rag in August. "It's the year I got legit."

Hmm. Legit, Iggy? That's kind of a loaded word. When you've got Nicki Minaj, the self-proclaimed "baddest bitch" in the rap game, out there on TV not-so-subtly hinting that perhaps you don't even write your own raps, it's safe to say that the question of your legitimacy remains unanswered.

We here at Rocks Off don't know if Ms. Azalea writes all her own shit, and when we started asking around about it, the barista just sort of shrugged. But we do know one foolproof way to determine your musical legitimacy once and for all: by comparing you scientifically to history's most legitimate Iggy ever, Iggy Pop.

Now, it's no easy thing to compare a 24-year-old hip-hop It Girl to a 67-year-old punk pioneer. Some people might (and several, in fact, did) gently suggest that it would be completely stupid to try, and that in any sane world, Iggy Azalea and Iggy Pop should never be mentioned in the same breath. Frankly, they'd be right. But we're doing it anyway, because it's Friday, and you need something to read at work today to make you look busy.

And so, in the hallowed name of the Scientific Method, we shall now test the hypothesis that Iggy Azalea is legit by comparing her performance to that of the lead Stooge in five distinct categories essential to pop music. Strap in tight, because we may be about to twist logic into some painful new contortions here.

CATEGORY 1: THE HITS Got to hand it to Azalea, here. In 2014, her big ol' hits have been impossible to escape. "Fancy," that much-heralded "song of the summer," was the very definition of a career-making smash. It peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. And while "Fancy" was chilling up there at the top, Ariana Grande's cute little trifle "Problem" (which just so happens to feature a verse from the Igginator) hit No. 2. That made the rapper the first artist since the Beatles to hit the top two spots on the chart with her first-ever chart appearances. That's a rather strong start.

Iggy Pop? His peak chart appearance came in 1990 with "Real Wild Child (Wild One)," which rose to No. 28 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. While commendable, 28 is pretty far from No. 1, we think you'd agree. Compounding matters is the fact that it was a cover song originally recorded by Johnny O'Keefe, an early rock and roll great from I. Azalea's homeland of Australia. Plus, it came out a full nine years after his first single.

There's essentially no way we can credible award this category to Mr. Pop. Score one for the New Jack.

Legitimacy Point: Azalea

CATEGORY 2: THE STAGES Both Iggys, despite the extreme disparity in the length of their careers, have rocked some pretty dope stages during their time in the spotlight, from Detroit dive bars to... uh...wherever it is that they rap in Australia. The Sydney Opera House, let's assume. Because trying to chart every venue that they've played would be difficult and boring, we won't bother. Instead, let's compare their most recent onstage appearances right here in good ol' H-Town.

Tonight, Iggy Azalea will claim sole ownership of Bayou Music Center, the big, cavernous, bare-bones theater carved out of the old Albert Thomas convention center downtown. The place holds nearly 3,000 drunks, er, people, and everyone from Mariah Carey to Slayer has played there over the years, making it one of the top venues in the South. For live music in this city, it doesn't get much bigger than that.

Unless, of course, you're headed outdoors, which is exactly where Iggy Pop went the last time we saw him. As one of the headliners of last year's Free Press Summer Festival, Iggy and the Stooges rocked a sellout crowd that was waaaaay too big to air-condition. In all likelihood, festival organizers were simply too high to count exactly how many people were losing their shit to "Search and Destroy," but it was a lot more than could fit in BMC.

Legitimacy Point: Pop

CATEGORY 3: THE COLLABORATORS Though her career is still ridiculously young, Iggy Azalea has already put together a pretty impressive list of collaborators, from T.I. and Diplo to the aforementioned Ariana Grande, Charli XCX, A$AP Rocky and God knows who else. As if that weren't enough, she's apparently set to share songs with Ellie Goulding and hip-hop grande dame Li'l Kim. That's a list that any young money-makin' artist would kill for.

It still ain't enough to top Iggy Pop's lengthy list of collaborators, though. Not even close! In addition to a longstanding and close working relationship with David Bowie, who pretty much kicks the shit out of everyone on Azalea's list single-handedly, Pop has also put in work with folks as famous and varied as Ginger Baker, Slash, Ke$ha, Lenny Kravitz, At the Drive-In, Rollins Band, Praxis, Rob Zombie, Beck, Peaches and dear God, the list goes on and on. If she can hang on in the biz for another 35 years, becoming a stone-cold, bona fide rock icon in the process, maybe she can catch up.

Because let's be real, that booty video she did with Jennifer Lopez ain't gonna get it done.

Legitimacy Point: Pop

Story continues on the next page.