14 DAY TRIAL // This August, Nicki Minaj released the much hyped video for the single “Anaconda,” lifted off the album “The Pinkprint,” which drops in stores later this month. The video, which is basically an ode to the phat backside, to put it mildly, is currently sitting at over 284.6 million views on YouTube alone.
And it’s not just in the online realm that “Anaconda” has been causing waves. Because of its very explicit nature, it also got the conversation going again on the topic of the oversexualization of female entertainers and how that fits in with their feminist agenda.
Nicki has heard all of that and she wants us to know that she’s none too happy about it.
The contradictions of Nicki Minaj, the feminist
The rapper is featured in the November 2014 edition of V Magazine with a gorgeous spread and an interview on a variety of topics, including Nicki’s way of leaving a mark in the industry.
The rapper doesn’t describe herself as a feminist, but she says she upholds feminist values: she always strives to be her best and to outdo herself on a previous occasion, she wants to become the representation of a strong woman, she imagines herself a role model for all women who dream of making it big but don’t have the courage to, she is proud to be a pioneer in rap.
Nicki is awfully proud (with good reason, too) of writing her own rhymes and of being the most successful female rapper: she is breaking new ground with her work and she wants other female MCs to follow her suit.
Whether she wants to use the label feminist or not, this is what Nick is in theory.
No one but those in the know should talk
How does that sit then with her image? Can a woman who removes most of her clothes and twerks on camera like she does in “Anaconda” still be a feminist? Or any kind of role model?
Yes, she can, Nicki fights back – but only if people who have no knowledge of hip hop culture know their place and shut up. She says that any other man who would have released a video like “Anaconda” would have been hailed a hero of some sorts, get pats on the back and handshakes for a job well done.
She, in return, got criticism from all sides, with people telling her she was bringing women down even more by actively contributing to their objectification in the media.
The problem, Nick believes, wasn’t with “Anaconda,” but with the people commenting on it and saying all these things, because they were coming from a place where they had no understanding of the hip hop culture.
“It’s so disrespectful for them to even comment on something they have no idea about. They don’t say anything when they’re watching the Victoria’s Secret show and seeing [breasts] and thongs all day. Why? Shame on them. Shame on them for commenting on ‘Anaconda’ and not commenting on the rest of the oversexualized business we’re a part of,” Nicki says.
So basically, Nicki knows she’s a part of the problem but she doesn’t want to be told that, not when she’s doing her best to use this oversexualization female entertainers are subjected to to show regular women how they can become empowered.