Nicki Minaj Research

One of the most popularized internet sayings of the past few months has slowly adapted into a meme or a joke, despite the important political messages behind it. A large majority of millennials with access to view the August 2015 VMAS, social media, or a friend with either will immediately understand the reference to “Miley, what’s good?” Nicki Minaj, an Afro-Trinidadian rapper and songwriter, as well as outspoken feminist advocate, accepted her MTV Video Music Award while greeting the host, pop singer Miley Cyrus, with this question. To give a little background, Minaj’s response was in regards to Cyrus’ comments about Minaj’s most recent VMA related posts on twitter. Controversy sprung up after Nicki tweeted numerous posts in July about her

Minaj was right; media, specifically music focused media, is not interested in black female musicians. Especially not black female musicians that continue to affirm their self-expression of sexuality, and feminist geared behavior. The continuing representation of cis-het, white, able-bodied musicians is what Minaj was calling award shows out on, not a specific attack on any individual. The fact that many musicians, who fall into this category (and benefit from it), took it so personally, reiterates the notion of their privilege. Black musicians are almost always expected to act in solidarity with white musicians, but with the situation flipped, white musicians would rather not admit their fault in the institutional marginalization and downfall of black

For one, she is one of the strongest, and bravest women involved in the music and entertainment industry in 2015. Black women are often targets of jokes, criticism, and hatred despite their small amount of representation as is. Her call out to Miley Cyrus shows her unwavering confidence, her pro-Black solidarity, and her affirmation of the sociopolitical problems faced in popular media, specifically relating to a lack of diverse representation. The backlash she received was gross, but it could have been even worse. White people have an “invisible…and unearned entitlement” that allows them to “ignore less powerful people…” meaning Nicki might not have been presented with any support at all (McIntosh 175). Second, the majority of the widespread media response that did follow afterwards further proves the hatred thrown on women of color in said industry. The little representation women of color have must be considered enough, and any concerns based on that are thrown to the bucket of racist tropes, specifically the Sapphire/Angry Black Woman. This erasure of representation allows racial groups and cultural backgrounds to fade, proving modern day genocide and white