Nicki Minaj did not allow an opportunity to go by as she instructed Miley Cyrus on black-white racism during an interview with the Times Magazine.
Perhaps, an unlikely setting for celebrity feuds to be showcased, yet Nicki Minaj hit out at Miley Cyrus for her attitude on stage during the MTV Video Music Awards held in August.
On being questioned by the interviewer of the New York Times about that MTV VMA moment, the ‘Anaconda’ singer had this to say about Cyrus, ‘You’re in videos with black men, and you’re bringing out black women on your stages, but you don’t know how black women feel about something that’s so important?’
Like most feuds of today, the Miley Cyrus-Nicki Minaj feud’s starting point can be pinpointed to a tweet from Minaj. During the nominations to the MTV VMA awards, Nicki Minaj had tweeted multiple messages which implied that videos with ‘slim women’ such as Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball’ or Taylor Swift’s ‘Bad Blood’ had better chances of winning awards than her ‘Anaconda’.
Many celebrity singers including Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars responded sharply to these tweets from Minaj. However, after some time, the tweet battles ended in a stalemate with exchanges of blowing-kiss emoticons and peace called for.
Then, Miley Cyrus reopened this issue when during her interview with Times Magazine, she commented on the tweets with, ‘You made it about you. Not to sound like a bitch, but that’s like, ‘Eh, I didn’t get my VMA’. She continued the rather nasty tirade against Minaj by adding that the tweets sounded just like Nicki Minaj is an unkind and impolite person.
During the actual awards ceremony in August, the two celebrities hugged each other and then Nicki Minaj lashed out at the ‘Wrecking Ball’ singer so badly that her mike was actually cut out. Yet she continued talking and it was quite easy to lip-read what she was saying to Cyrus.
The Times interview seems to reiterate Minaj’s ability to confound; pose difficult questions and dominate her rivals. She is known to throw challenges and her ability to rewrite rules in the hip-hop male-dominated scene is an open secret.
Her success in the hip-hop market reflects her power to overcome male and pseudo-feminist domination. Moreover, the singer never seems to run away from her responsibilities that her power brings with it.
She did not hesitate to confront the uncomfortable question of black-white racism and when asked as to why she responded rudely at the VMA Awards, she retorted about Cyrus, ‘The fact that you feel upset about me speaking on something that affects black women makes me feel like you have some balls’, and then went on to explain her stand on the issue of racism in the music industry.