If you've ever watched an award show, you know that they can get quite chaotic. The unforgettable Kanye West mic-snatch of 2009 and Miley Cyrus twerking in 2013 are perfect examples of that.
On Tuesday, July 21st, the VMA nominations were released for the world to see and their seemed to be controversy over the Video Of The Year nominees. The nominees for that honor include Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar. But, what about Nicki Minaj and her legendary Anaconda music video? This isn't just any old music we're talking about, this video was record setting. Anaconda put a raunchy twist on pop culture portayals of curvy black women. This song received 19.6 millions views within the first 24 hours. Nicki and her fans were floored when they found out this song wasn't nominated. Nicki, without a doubt, had a reason to be upset, which she made very clear via Twitter.
Was the 2014 summer hit too provocative or does the issue go deeper than that? Nicki Minaj's video promotes body confidence and gender relations, making it the most successful video in the past year. Minaj did not directly attack Taylor Swift when made a remark about videos promoting "very slim" women. The statement could have been about anything, Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud showcases a slender woman dancing. Taylor Swift, video of the year nominee, took personal offense to Nicki's tweets and took matters into her own hands.
According to Nicki Minaj, the tweet was never about Taylor in the first place. Misinterpretation often happens on Twitter due to limited character usage. It's easy to see why Swift would assume Minaj's tweet was directed at her. "Bad Blood" is, after all, a video by a women that features "very slim bodies" like Selena Gomez, Karlie Kloss, Cara Delevingne, and Ellen Pompeo.
Nicki Minaj has voiced that often times white culture appropriates and homogenizes black culture, making it "popular." Many black artists, in pop specifically, aren't given credit where credit is due. I believe that Taylor completely missed the big picture and instead took it as a personal attack of her craft. The larger point is that the achievements of black artists, particularly women, are commodified by white culture, which is then celebrated for being edgy or groundbreaking. It is also evident that Taylor missed the point when she shifted the conversation from racism to sexism.
Nicki's target wasn't at any particular artist but the VMAs and MTV as institutions. Nicki Minaj mentioned that she will be on stage to collect the award that she was not nominated for. Will Nicki imitate Kanye West's interruption in 2009? I guess we'll have to wait and find out.
Update 7.23.15 at 12:05 p.m. - Taylor tweeted an apology to Nicki about the misunderstanding -
