THERE WAS ONCE a time when Nicki Minaj held a dear place in many of our hearts.
Who doesn’t have a few fond memories of 2010 when seemingly everybody in the country knew all of the words to Super Bass? Minaj followed up Super Bass with a handful of other huge hits. It wasn’t until a few years later that Nicki Minaj began to expose herself as a bit of a dope.
For instance, in June 2013, the 35-year-old made some comments in which she shamed sex workers – a group of people who don’t need any more stigma to make their work and lives more difficult. Here’s what Nicki said:
Maybe I was naive, but I didn’t realise how many girls were modern-day prostitutes. Whether you’re a stripper, or whether you’re an Instagram girl – these girls are so beautiful and they have so much to offer. But I started finding out that you give them a couple thousand dollars, and you can have sex with them. It’s just sad that they don’t know their worth. It makes me sad as a woman.
There was plenty of backlash from people who found Nicki’s comments to not only be patronising, but fairly hypocritical too. As Nylon pointed out at the time, “Sex work is like any other type of job and sex workers are like any other professionals; some enjoy the work, and others don’t but do it for the money. Regardless of their motivations, nobody should be looked down upon for working.”
Besides looking down on sex workers, Nicki was also accused of using homophobic lyrics on her latest album Queen, which was released in the middle of August. Fans on social media were very disappointed to learn that the album featured Minaj referring to people as ‘sissies’.
Who want it with Nicki now? / I smoke ‘em like hippies now / They see me say ‘Yippie’ now / Home runnin’ like Griffey now / They switchin’ like sissies now / You n***as is iffy now.
LGBTQ news and culture website Them pointed out that there’s nothing ambiguously queerphobic about these lyrics, because alongside the context of some of Nicki Minaj’s old lyrics, it’s immediately clear what she meant when she said the word ‘sissies’. On a 2008 track called Dead Wrong, Nicki used very similar lyrics but with a more unacceptable homophobic slur.
First they love you / then they switch / yeah, they switch like f*ggots / that’s what I keep the llambas in Gabbana’s fabrics.
Actor Johnny Sibilly called Nicki the f**k out, by tweeting: “I do wonder if some of these cis women that make gay/trans jokes realise that they’re playing into the hands of the patriarchy that sees anything in their likeness as weak.”
Nicki Minaj’s shitty behaviour doesn’t just stop there.
On top of her SWERF-y comments and casual homophobia, Nicki Minaj upset some Asian fans with the single Chun-Li and the subsequent music video which perpetuated some racist stereotypes. The Chun-Li music video was followed by a #ChunLiChallenge on social media, which had fans also taking part in some disrespectful practices.
In May of this year, Asian writer David Yi said:
The way people are interpreting the #ChunLiChallenge with signifiers like double buns and chopsticks as hair accessories is yet another instance of people co-opting another culture with impunity.
In Japan, sticking chopsticks in your hair is considered to be extremely disrespectful. People on the internet lost their shit when Emma Roberts decided to wear chopsticks in her hair at the Met Gala. After an onslaught of angry comments, Emma decided to take the chopsticks out of her hair before she even made it to the red carpet.
People have also been concerned about the company that Nicki Minaj keeps.
This week, we learned that rapper XXXTentacion admitted to stabbing eight people and abusing his ex-girlfriend in a statement that was recorded before his death. A man identified as XXXTentacion by Miami-Dade County’s state attorney bragged about a violent attack he took part in:
You seen me. You know what I do to people [...] I’m on [Miami] New Times for stabbing, how many people they put in the news? They said three – it was eight [...] No tears on my face, no remorse. I just knew I was going to jail.
Referring to his ex-girlfriend, XXXTentacion said:
Now she’s scared. That girl is scared for her life, which I understand. I started f**king her up. She thinks I’m going to kill her. I will kill that bitch if she play with me.
In life and in death, Nicki Minaj spoke highly of XXXTentacion. Following his death, Minaj said “XXXTentacion may not have been the biggest artist, but [his murder] hurt us like we knew him, or like we were the biggest fan.” Sure, you could ask “How was Nicki Minaj supposed to believe the allegations against XXXTentacion?” What you should really be asking is why it took a voice recording of XXXTentacion admitting that he was abusive for you to believe his victim.
Nicki’s support for XXXTentacion isn’t just a once-off mistake that she made. This year, Nicki released her single FEFE with rapper Daniel Hernandez, known by most as 6ix9ine, or Tekashi69. Hernandez, who is not black, has been making a living while liberally using the N-word in his music. Oh, and he also pled guilty to a felony count of use of a child in a sexual performance, after he filmed himself with a naked 13-year-old girl and distributed videos of the incident online.
He has yet to be sentenced for this crime, but coincidentally sentencing is scheduled to take place today. The Manhattan district attorney’s office said that Hernandez could face up to three years in prison and be listed at a sex offender, depending on how his plea bargain works out.
While Hernandez was in a shopping centre in Texas this summer, a guy approached him and called him a rapist. Hernandez responded by choking the 16-year-old and was later arrested for that crime too. Prior to his sexual misconduct case, Hernandez had been jailed for assault and selling heroin.
Sooo… It’s safe to say that Daniel Hernandez is an awful human being. Yet, he has Nicki Minaj’s complete support.
Sure look at them playing pat-a-cake and sharing an ice cream cone in the music video for FEFE.
In the same interview where Nicki said she was hurt by the death of XXXTentacion, she also spoke about Tekashi69, saying:
I don’t want people to think that that’s all he is, because it’s not.
You gotta be so careful, because you get such a short window of time to make that overall first impression – before people in their head think they have you all figured out. I want people to see the good qualities in him.
Yeah, we’re sure the racist Soundcloud rapper who admitted he abused a child is an absolutely lovely chap once you get to know him.
Each of these examples in which Nicki Minaj has proven to be problematic occurred in 2018, alone.
We’re not even covering everything right now. Nicki’s also been accused of bullying individuals on Twitter, after they’ve called her out for the things she has said and done over the last year. Minaj reportedly sent fans to attack one man on social media after he called her out for shaming sex workers. Another fan received an abusive message from Minaj herself.
With all of this in mind, Nicki Minaj is the last person you’d consider to be a feminist.
So, why on earth is she getting praised on Twitter for sending a message of “equality, strength and defying stereotypes” for doing a verse on a Little Mix song?
LA / Twitter
LA / Twitter / Twitter
Little Mix and Nicki Minaj fans are praising these women endlessly for the music video for ‘Woman Like Me’. One fan on Twitter said that the symbolism in the music video indicates that Little Mix and Nicki Minaj have “risen above the conformities of society. No more stereotypes, no more inequality, no more toxicity, no more standards. It’s only love and empowerment for us women.”
I love Little Mix and appreciate the bangers they have supplied us with over the years. but there’s no way anybody can watch this music video and sincerely believe that this girl group are pushing any real boundaries with this piece of work.
If I’m understanding things correctly here, we’re supposed to find the music video empowering because the members of Little Mix don’t know how to clean or iron. They also sit with their legs open during their choreography, which I suppose must also be enough for them to be considered feminist icons.
And Nicki Minaj? She barely lifts a finger in this music video. Her lyrical contribution is uninspired and she could probably have been substituted with any other female hip hop act and the end product would have been exactly the same. She doesn’t deserve any praise or accolades for her offering in this song, and it certainly doesn’t compensate for all of her other misogynistic behaviour during the last few months.
If Little Mix want to be considered feminist icons, they should probably try and steer clear of Nicki Minaj. Oh, and maybe actually do something that’s genuinely empowering.
