The Lamentable Misogyny of Nicki Minaj
Since the hey-dey of Nicki Minaj (I’ll say 2009-2016 for our purposes here) our society has been flipped on its head. The late 2010s saw the #MeToo movement bring forth discussions of predatory men, leading to the ousting of a few from public life. There was also a notable movement among black women to embrace our natural features, particularly our hair. There has even since been a cultural walk-back of a lot of progress made, so much so that we are now in the nebulous post-post 2010s where no no one knows where we’re headed societally anymore. On one hand the world seems to be careening off a far right cliff, while on the other hand many strive to improve the lives of the most marginalized among us on a day-to-day basis. All we can agree to do is look to the near past and say “That didn’t work for anyone and we shouldn’t go back.” and this past week, Nicki Minaj placed herself firmly on the other end of our gaze.
Rap beef has existed since the beginning of rap as a genre. As long as there is an enthusiastic audience waiting for new releases, there are going to be rappers vying for that number one spot. However, this week’s rap beef unfolded into something ugly, strange, and ultimately revealing.
For years since her assault, Megan Thee Stallion has faced threats and harassment from the mostly male supporters of her assaulter. While she has maintained grace and composure publicly, she recently keyed us in to her personal struggle throughout this time with her song “Cobra”. She also hinted at this next era of hers being a personal exploration through her struggle, as well as an opportunity for her to shed the past and move forward. On January 26, she did move forward with her song “Hiss”, a scathing and catchy condemnation of all of the people who used her suffering as an opportunity to bash her while endearing themselves to her misogynistic anti-fans. While the song was arguably focused on the plethora of men that have targeted her, Nicki Minaj placed herself directly in the line of focus. The rapper went live on Instagram and shot out a barrage of tweets of “X”, all saying what is essentially the following:
You’re big and tall (she referred to Megan as ‘Bigfoot’ because I guess not being naturally petite is funny)
You got shot (because apparently violence against women is also somehow funny)
You’re lying about getting shot (???)
Your Mother is dead and you lied on her (this is too distasteful to even begin to explain)
You’re an alcoholic (as someone who has admitted to struggling with substance abuse themselves, you would think there would be more empathy there)
You’re promiscuous (the fact that a rapper who has given herself the name Minaj and who consistently has sexual themes in her would use sexual liberation to shame someone is deeply hypocritical)
You’re going to have a child one day and you should be prepared for something to happen to them (This is the threat of a witch from a Disney movie)
This all culminated in the release of a song, titled “Bigfoot”, that has the above stated themes as well as strange whispered threats that serve as the song’s outro. While I could get into the music or the timeline of events that far preceded the release of these songs, there is a bigger issue here to unpack.
While the demographics of Nicki Minaj’s fan base has changed over the years, her core fan base is still black women. Around the world, black women face targeted bigotry for their features. They also face increased rates of assault and predation for those same features. By bashing the features of a black woman (that many other black woman share) in comparison to her own, Nicki Minaj has shown a clear disregard for the black women that got her to where she is today. By making light of what could have easily been a deadly assault (which many black women experience each year) she has also shown a clear disregard to the women who were once fans of hers who have had that same experience. Finally, by placing her own legacy on the chopping block to protect the predatory men who she surrounds herself with, she serves as a harrowing reminder of the women in our lives who deny the experiences of women and shield abusers. The women who act as the infrastructure in the re-building of dangerous men and the women who stand in the way of justice, either by besmirching the reputations of victims or by talking victims out of seeking justice.
The ramifications of this are large as the most prominent among us set the tone for the progression of our culture. If we’re taught that the only way to cement your legacy as a woman is suppress the shine of other women, then many women will will take that lesson to heart and oppose their peers. If we’re taught that black women’s inherent features are undesirable, then black women will continue to be discriminated against because of them. Lastly, if we’re led to believe we should be protecting the predators among us at all costs, young girls will grow up thinking it’s up to them to do so as well. This behavior is the reason why the late 2000s and early 2010s is a time best known for the misogyny and harsh standards placed on women. It was made acceptable and the aftereffects are still being felt today. While I empathize with Nicki Minaj as a female artist who came up during that time, I lament the fact that she thinks she needs to replicate that culture in the year 2024. The fact that she hasn’t realized that an increase in the number of varied, female rappers is good for everyone and means that she no longer has to fight for a place in the boys’ club. I don’t know what else is down the road for Nicki Minaj but I hope that somewhere along that path she can take some time to reflect on the situation she’s found herself in and the beliefs that got her there. Or at the very least, I hope we as a culture learn that she cannot stand at the forefront of an entire genre anymore.