Nicki Minaj covers the November issue of Marie Claire. I’ve become something of a Nicki Minaj fan over the past few years especially, and let me just say: she’s a lot prettier than this cover shot. She’s at her prettiest when her hair is down and she’s wearing really minimal, natural-style makeup. I don’t know what this cover is trying to do, except maybe make her look like a sexy secretary? I do appreciate the fact that she’s sort of covered up on the cover though. Minaj is a bit like Sofia Vergara in that sense: her shtick is short, low-cut and body-con. It’s nice to see her in something different. As for the interview, it’s good.
On young women’s goals: “Nowadays, I feel like [young women] see marrying into money—I think that’s a big thing now. I don’t want that to be a woman’s goal in life. I want your goal in life to be to become an entrepreneur, a rich woman, a career-driven woman. You have to be able to know that you need no man on this planet at all, period, and he should feel that, because when a man feels that you need him, he acts differently.”
On competing with male rappers: “I don’t need to read a book about [business]. I can look at someone’s career and just pinpoint the dos and the don’ts, and the one person I’ve done that with for my entire career was Jay Z. He did such a great job being an authentic street guy and a businessman, and I was like, Why aren’t there women doing that, taking the success from rap and channeling it into their empire? I felt like anything he could do, I could do.”
On the double standard that exists for women of color in the media: “When Kim Kardashian’s naked picture came out, [Sharon Osbourne] praised it, and my fans attacked her for being such a hypocrite. So it wasn’t trashy and raunchy when a white woman did it, but it was when a black woman did it? It’s quite pathetic and sad, but that is my reality, and I’ve gotten accustomed to just shutting it down.”
On the people living with violence in our country: “We tend to not remember the black women who are mourning these men and who are thinking, Oh, my God, what am I going to tell my child now about where his father is, and the struggle it is for black women to then move on after they lose their husband or their boyfriend … The strong women in these inner cities often go unnoticed … no one really ever puts a hand out to them.”
On collaborating with Beyoncé: “Every time Bey and I do something together, I see how women are inspired, and it has nothing to do with how we look. It has to do with how we are owning who we are and telling other women you should be the boss of your own career and the brains behind your life or your decisions or your art. I just love that feeling.”
I’m totally cool with Minaj modeling her career after Jay-Z’s career. If I was a rapper (???) I would want to be like Jay-Z too and I would actively model my career like Jay’s. I’m also totally fine with Minaj telling her younger fans – I imagine they would be teen girls? – to aim higher than being a rich man’s wife or girlfriend or mistress. That’s always a good message. Minaj is also right about the forgotten black women in our society, the mothers, daughters, sisters, girlfriends, wives and friends of the men who meet violent ends.
My one “eh, not really” moment with this interview? The example she uses for the double standards of how white women and black women are treated in the media. Like, she’s absolutely right that race plays a huge part in the narratives we’re fed about women, sexuality, nudity, respectability, consent and more. But is Kim Kardashian’s nude photo moment the best example of that double standard? I ask because Kim got a ton of sh-t for posting a semi-nude photo. She was criticized online and in print media, she was criticized by other celebrities and it became this absurd cultural-touchstone moment about feminism, body-confidence and more. That example is also absurd when you think about how many different examples of cultural appropriation from the Kardashian-Jenners that Minaj could have used instead!
Photos courtesy of Kai Z Feng/Marie Claire.
She might have been talking about Paper mag cover because the comparison I believe was that to her King cover which she got a ton of ish for.
Anyways Nicki has always talked about women and young girls to go after their education and be their own boss. You can find clip after clip and direct tweets to fans about staying in school or bring home good grades. She doesn’t just spout this in interviews.
Also very great that she speaks on double standards for men and women AND how race plays into that.
Love Nicki she’s a boss
SHUT UP NICKI MINAJ!
This stupid self-hating bitch makes me sick. She throws black women under the bus REPEATEDLY. She writes lyrics about how we are ugly with nappy hair and then she tries to distract us by pretending to give a shit about anti-black racism from white people.
She made such a big deal about an MTV award but then she was completely disrespectful to the BET awards when picking them up. She kept silent about black lives matter but when she needs black support for her shitty music, she suddenly thinks she is MLK.
Also, SHUT UP ABOUT BLACK WOMEN. Black women are subject to some of the highest rates of rape and molestation of any women in America. So, here’s an idea, while you are paying the bail money of your 12 year old raping 40 year old brother, why don’t you shut up about what black women need? They need to not be molested by creeps and enablers in your family.
She didn’t pay his bail…her mother did. Soooo try again.
Nope. Black blogs have all the receipts on this. She gave her mom the money to bail him out.
+1000000000000000!!!!
I just looked her brother up. Gross. But I don’t really think that’s her fault that her brother is a pervert.
Nicki rarely applies what she preaches in interviews to her actual career. It really pisses me off.
THIS. She’s pro-women, AS LONG AS, it doesn’t encroach on her career/success.
While she talks about women’s empowerment, she’s seems rather selective. For example, she will collaborate with Beyonce, Ariana Grande, Jessie J, but I’ve never seen her collaborate with another female rapper. No, there currently isn’t anyone on her level in terms of fame, BUT she has the ability to bring someone up. Help build their rap career.
This has always been a sore spot for me since I’m old enough to remember Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Queen Latifah, Missy Elliot, MC Lyte, Queen Pen, Left Eye, etc back in the day. I remember beefs, but I also remember collaborations. So I will admit that I’m naturally biased about giving Nicki too much credit given a) she came up when no other female rappers were in the game; and, b) she doesn’t seem interested in helping any others. I’m not saying this should be the sole focus of her career, but I also need her to let me know she’s serious about empowering other women, not just in ways that won’t take the spotlight of her.
She also frequently collaborates with Chris Brown and several other abusers, and despite being her own songs, all they rap about is her ass and how much they want to fuck her. And then she tells women to respect and value themselves?
I respect Nicki’s success, but when it comes to media potrayals of women, and black women in particular, I’d say she’s more a part of the problem than the solution.
@Josefina: But don’t you think the message that women, and that women of color in particular, *have to choose between* either being openly sexual & desired OR valuing and respecting themselves is a part of the problem, (and exactly what she’s criticizing here) not the solution? Especially since that idea comes from the fact that people of both sexes are taught the violent message that women and women of color who they consider ‘classy/chaste/ladylike/virginal/modest’ have more value and are more worthy of respect than the ‘other’ ones anyway. Artists who are women and women of color should be able to portray all types of consensual sexuality (desiring AND being desired, pleasing and being pleased, or whatever else) without it being implied that they’ve somehow wronged their gender or race by not sticking to a Million Moms/Second-Wave Respectability Politics script.
As far as Chris Brown goes, I’m not bothered by people working with him as long as they don’t defend his abusive behavior.
When she displays and talks about sexuality, I do agree with you OF. She is an important representation (even if she can be a little–well, very—vulgar for me at times. However, IMO, anyone’s message is always minimized when they are more opportunistic. IMO, she’s “Pro-Nicki” first, “pro-women” second. So far, it seems that she’ll champion and empower anyone as long as they are in a different lane. Like has she even worked with Missy Elliot?! If not rap wise, than in production. Missy is a phenomenal producer. Hits on Hits on Hits. Like I said this is such a sore spot that I have a problem taking anything else she does seriously.
@Otaku Fairy
I don’t know if I can post these lyrics here, honestly:
– Nicki’s verse in Hey Mama by David Guetta
– Lil Wayne’s verse in Nicki’s “Only”
– Nicki’s verse in Big Sean’s MILF (look that one up and tell me there’s nothing remotely wrong with that song)
Lil Kim did the oversexualised rap star thing well because she owned her schtick, and her lyrics weren’t about being submissive and sex crazed for men’s pleasure. The charicature of women rappers always sing about. I never implied Nicki should join a convent and do a vow of celibacy. I’m just saying what she preaches about in her interviews and the message her music sends are radical opposites.
I think for Nicki to work with Chris Brown, and sing the lyrics she sings in songs with him is not much better than actually defending him.
Also, Lil Kim and Nicki Minaj are the most hypersexualized female rappers and they have the most plastic surgery. Does that mean anything significant? Is there a point where such an image can be damaging?
@Josefina: I agree with you about Only and especially agree with you about MILF being problematic, but not Hey Mama. Hey Mama definitely shows a submissive relationship, but a consensual, non-abusive one that the woman is very pleased by. I get why any portrayal of submission probably makes most of us at least a teensy bit uncomfortable as feminists, but don’t think it should be completely taboo for women who make music, movies, or books to ever show that just because they’re feminists either. I do think it’s very important for them to portray it as something some women can enjoy and not as what women are ‘supposed to be doing,’ as our only option, or have that as a political agenda they actively promote for us in their interviews and politics (like the Candace Cameron Bures of the world).
Agree!
Which song was that? I didn’t know about that, but Alex is right that it was Nicki’s mom who bailed her son out, not Nicki bailing her brother out. So far she hasn’t made any comments to discredit, shame, or blame her brother’s rape victim or made excuses for what her brother did, so I don’t think her brother’s actions should in any way be painted as a reflection on her character yet. A lot of times when a public figure gets exposed as abusive everyone from spouses to parents to friends to political allies to people and fellow celebrities who have worked with the abuser come out to trash or discredit the victim (as we’ve seen with Joshua Duggar, Johnny Depp, Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Donald Trump, and countless others) so the fact that Nicki Minaj hasn’t done that so far even though it’s her brother is a relief.
there’s a few song, but I remember Did it On Em’ having that lyric in it.
The only real issue I have with this comment is that black women are killed by the police just like black men. They are not just the wives of the men who are killed, they are the victims themselves. Sandra Bland, Rekia Boyd and too many others were not just girlfriends/wives they were people too who were murdered unjustly and did not get enough attention as their male counterparts.
Otherwise, she gave really good responses to those questions.
This. Someone recently posted a list of all the women who have died by the hands of the police in recent years….it was depressing to say the least.
+1.
I’m tired of the Black MEN’S Lives Matter narrative, too.
I think that she has experienced the white woman/black woman double standard herself and, like most people, she can only speak from her own experience.
Kim Kardashian is a woman of color too. Why is she erasing that? And she got A TON of crap for that nude shoot. I didn’t see many people praising it as much as criticizing it, making memes, laughing at her body, and denouncing her for being nude in a magazine while being a ~mother.
I believe double standards exist, and mostly white high fashion models and actresses can get away with going nude and it’s “artsy and classy”, but this Kim is not the best example. She was judged a lot for that shoot.
Her dad was Armenian, and I think Kris is Scottish/Irish. Kim is completely white.
The white “race” is totally arbitrary.
It’s like saying arab people or north african people are white, believe me they’re not seen as white in european countries.
All race is arbitrary, if we’re going to be purist about this.
And in my ( European ) country, people from the Middle East and North Africa are considered white.
@Locke Lamora In mine too, I’ve noticed that many Americans tend to consider white people the ones that decent from the Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and Baltic countries …so basically just the northern European ones
Yep, in Australia too. Ditto Hispanic people. I’ve never understood why they aren’t considered ‘white’ in the US.
@Kath, I think it is because the confusion it causes the race/cultural aspects of this conversation especially outside the US. I’m a light brown Mexican but I would never consider myself white in any situation because of the cultural implications, another example is a friend of mine who many people would be considered black, but he sees himself just as ‘muy moreno’ (very brown). I mean, it is obvious that the color of the skin plays a major role in our culture, but I think the fact that we are so in touch with the US culture and how they perceived race causes a bit of confusions for how those same topics are perceived in other countries.
Locke: So could it be Kim inherited her big butt from her Scottish/Irish mama? She loves to claim her butt as coming from her Armenian roots, but (haha) maybe that’s not where she got it from. After all, look at Kylie. She’s a Jenner with a big butt. No Armenian nationality she can claim there.
Lol, I do actually know that their big butt is really the product of some plastic surgeon, whatever nationality he or she may be.
People from the Middle East are technically “Caucasian,” but they look very different from native Europeans. And they aren’t seen as white by white people. If you want to consider them white, then you’ll have to re-think white privilege and white racism against other races in the context of Middle Easterners pouring into Europe. Are they victims? After all, they’re white, and the trend is to blame white people for everything. So are they actually responsible for their own plight? You have to take your own logic to its inevitable end. I just did it for you, but consider thinking before you type next time.
But you’re thinking of “white people” and white privilege in terms of race which is quite an American point of view. They are viewed diferently for sure, but in my experience in Europe that tends to be because of ethnicity and xenophobia, rather than race.
I can consider Middle Easterners white AND understand that they can be discriminated against. Poles are white, they’re subject to racist attacks in the UK. Irish Travellers are white, they’re the victim of prejudice in Ireland. Many Roma are white, and they’re victimised across Europe. Most Jews are white … do I need to keep going?
I don’t use the phrase POC unless I’m talking to an American (it’s a very American term). I tend to use “marginalised minority”, but that’s a bit old. The more recent one I’ve seen is “historically excluded group”. Either of those terms are multi-purpose – you can use them to talk about racism or religious intolerance or sexism or homophobia or whatever dumb reason people are being treated unfairly. It’s not like white-privilege is the only form of injustice. You don’t need to frame things in terms of race to see a problem and take action.
Is Armenian not considered more middle eastern?
Kim Kardashian is NOT a woman of color. Please stop. She is considered white by American standards and therefore has access to white privilege.
Really? Whiteness is a social construct as much as race is in general. I don’t look at her and consider her to be terribly white, probably because as a blonde haired light skinned American, I fit the de facto American standard of whiteness, and she quite frankly does not. I’m just speaking honestly, not trying to start anything or invalidate the reality of a multiplicity of cultural and personal opinions.
Exactly. If Armenians are not considered white in the US ( a surprise to me), then Italians/ Greeks/ Spanish/ Georgians/ Chechens/ Turks/Arabs etc are not white either . I think all these people will be greatly surprised to find that out.
All those ethnicities tend to have a darker shade of white skin than Northern Europeans. But plenty of Armenians have a very pale white skin.
I used to think Kim was of mixed heritage, but when she married Kanye and referred to herself as white when talking about the racism they encountered I discovered she wasn’t.
wrong spot, but I thought she just said she had never thought about it before?
I think the fake tan and the dyed raven hair might fool you.
No, she just tans and uses a ton of bronzer. She’s white.
Even if it wasn’t fake tan, white peopls come in different shades too. Not everyone looks like they’re from Sweden.
Thank you. I don’t need to be told that white people come in 5 different shades of beige.
She’s white.. Armenia is a Caucasus country. The word Caucasian derived from that location.. she’s just a white woman with a darker skin tone.
I’ve always wondered by these standards do most people consider Russians to be Asians or not?
Ha! Exactly! She is the textbook definition of Caucasian!
Like I said to Locke Lamora in a post above is mostly Americans that I’ve noticed that tend to consider as white people the ones that decent from the Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and Baltic countries …so basically just the northern European ones and the rest of them mixed.
Exactly!
Kim K identifies as White.
I dont know how women of color feel about having someone like this try to talk about double standards between white and black women, but when I look at Nikki with all her plastic surgery and all this highlighter on her face, it’s hard for me to take her seriously. That may be harsh bug I cannot help it. Your message is kind of lost on me when you look like you are part of the problem.
I feel the same way about Beyonce somtimes.
So do I. I can’t take someone who wears nothing but long, blonde hair as an icon of black beauty. No way.
First, Beyonce wears her hair in different styles from long wigs to box braids. Secondly, it’s disgusting to dismiss a black woman’s allegiance over how she wears her hair or what colors she uses. By that logic Michelle Obama is a race traitor for chemically straightening her hair. Beyonce is a light skinned girl, she looks best in a lighter hair colors just as darker girls look better in red hair tones. It’s got nothing to do with race shame.
“I am not my hair” ~ India Arie
Thank you for bringing that up, Deni. It’s always surprising how many people don’t understand that the whole “I can’t take this Woc seriously as a person for racial/gender equality because she dyes her hair or because she straightens her hair, but have no problem with whites who dye, straighten, or curl their hair standing up for racial equality” is racist in and of itself, and about as logical as dismissing a woman as someone for gender equality just because she makes physical appearance choices we associate with masculinity, like cutting her hair super short, or deliberately pursuing a more athletic muscular physique for herself, or dressing in baggy, boyish, clothing. For some reason people have this counterproductive idea that equality= dress code litmus tests for people of certain races and gender.
I specifically said I don’t consider her a black beauty icon. I said nothing of her talent, accomplishments, taking her seriously as a person, race shame, or her “allegiance.”
I never said my feelings about other people who dye their hair or modify their bodies. It all goes against our beautiful natural form.
Part of the problem or a result of it? I think Beyonce did get a nose job all those years ago but if I had been rich beyond measure at 20 or 21 I really shudder to think what I might have done without media pressure. I had all kinds of self-doubt that’s only now calming down now in my mid-late 20s.
Off topic, but as a non-American, I’ve gotta say I find some attitudes towards Black Lives Matter completely mystifying. I really don’t understand the aggression towards BLM, as if the movement – or the victims – are ‘at fault’ in some way. Those videos are HORRIFYING and they all make the international news.
I don’t understand why guns aren’t part of the broader conversation. I also don’t get how you can have “open carry” laws in some states on the one hand, and then have cops shooting black people and claiming “I thought he had a gun!” on the other.
Surely having a militarised police-force with (some) cops who are poorly trained, who shoot at everything that moves is something that affects everyone?? Yes, it reveals some fundamental ugly truths about racism, above all (shooting a disability carer?!), but having heavily-armed, nervous police with bad judgment is a scary prospect full stop. So this attitude of (right-wing Trump voters) saying it “doesn’t affect me” is just weird.
OK, rant over. I am just confused by the whole thing.
Guns are part of the broader conversation. It’s just that when you rig all the districts to ensure that your party controls Congress, nothing can ever get done because the gun nuts always win with the backing of their bought and paid for Congressmen.
Can someone school me? at least somewhat politely please though, Trump news is making me fragile.
How does Kim identify? The only thing I could find is her talking about how she’s never thought of race until she had North, which tbh sounds like a white person thing.
Armenia is considered European, but borders parts of Iran and Jordan. The few people I know from those areas do not identify as white, although they all grew up over seas and obviously don’t speak for everyone.
Armenia is in Asia.
The US classifies it as European?
If it’s in Asia, well I’m still lost.
White people don’t live exclusively in Europe.
Geographically it’s in Asia, like Turkey is in Asia.
Part of Turkey is in Europe. A small part, but still.
As someone mentioned above, why do Americans ( they are the only ones whose definitions I hear often) act like only Northern and Western Europeans are white?
That’s the other thing, you can be of African descent in China, Chinese descent in Egypt, Caucasian in the Philippines. Still doesn’t clarify anything.
The best response I’ve seen so far is Armenia is a Caucasus country plus Kim’s refusal to even think about race.
Really I’d like to hear from people who are Armenian or Turkish or Persian on this, because I don’t think I’m qualified to make that call.
I know a few people from Turkey and they identify as white. But not European.
There’s a difference between the geography of a state and its culture, that’s why the race classification doesn’t mean anything.
Armenia is geographically in Asia but culturally it’s closer to Europe than to China.
Turkey is 90% in Asia geographically but it’s culturally diverse with different populations and a big kurdish minority, same for Iran.
The problem with the american “race” concept is that it mixes geography, culture and color of skin, which is totally absurd.
Armenian and Turkish are white, so are Russians and Persians, or Kurds for example. A lot of the Slavic people have origins from central Asia and they are white. Europe and Asia are ancient continents with ancient people, there was a lot of back and forth between Caucasian people, that some countries are situated in Asia doesn’t really mean something. Take the Sami for example that live in northern Norway or the Inuit in Greenland and they are indigenous.
My daughter is quarter turkish (biological dad was half turkish) and here in UK both of them are considered ‘White mixed’ – as in, that is the box you would tick on a form (as opposed to ‘white british’ or ‘white european’).
Armenian is a European culture regardless of where they are located geographically. Just like there were Ancient Greek cities in North Africa and Asia, the people in them were Greek.
Armenians are white and their traditional religion is Christianity.
“The problem with the american “race” concept is that it mixes geography, culture and color of skin, which is totally absurd. ”
Agree. The American view of races doesn’t make sense outside of the US. It is illogical.
Race is a social construct and the way that it is constructed in the US is very simple. It is about skin colour, ones appearance means more than actual ethnicity. People who carry out racist acts don’t usually take the time to inquire about their targets ancestry.
Skin colour is used to create hierarchies with white skin being at the top. I think this is what confuses some non-US posters. It’s hard to get your head around something as fucked up as this so I understand the confusion.
There is a sociological concept called ‘passing’ which underscores my point. A person of mixed race identity, who may be read as white, can try to pass for white in order to access the benefits available to white people.
No, I don’t think that’s quite right.
I’m Australian, we certainly have racism here. It’s not like I’m oblivious to the concept. Most racism is about skin colour, not ethnicity per se. (Example exceptions: current racism towards Poles in the UK, prejudice against the Roma in Europe.)
But America has a much narrower definition of white (and broader definition of “person of colour”) than some other countries. That’s what the confusion is about. There are plenty of examples of medium-toned people who are considered obviously/visibly POC in America when it wouldn’t even have crossed my mind to wonder if they might not be white. (If I see a medium skin tone I tend to assume Mediterranean heritage). Also, by the American definition, more ethnic groups fall into the not-white category. For example, many Americans seem to consider people from the Middle East to be POC while I’d consider them white. It’s just different definitions.
Thank you everyone for commenting and not name calling. I think it’s a really interesting conversation and a lot of great points were brought up.
That’s not really what she was saying… she was referring to Sharon Osbourne specifically not the media in general.
There are far better examples of things than something Sharon Osborne has said or done. Most people don’t even pay attention to her because she isn’t a very nice person.
I watched that episode of ‘the talk’ Sharon really dragged nicki for her anaconda photo, her fans even got mad afterwards. When kim posted her nude photo, Sharon decided to post a nude photo of herself, and said kim was inspiring. So naked nicki = nasty, naked kim = inspiring.
But even in real life a black woman kind of life would never reach that level of acceptance and success.
Is Nicki she just calling out Kim because Kim’s the one person she can? Or is she pissed because Kim ‘steals’ from black culture all the time? The example seems personal, not based on really making a clear point.
I think they’ve gotten a lot of the same surgery and could pass as sisters. They should probably be friends.
She’s a huge hypocrite and not such a nice person. Maybe she should look in the mirror before blaming others.
How refreshing that the circumference of her waist and head are almost identical on the cover of Marie Claire. *yawn*
Meh. Since when is Sharon Osbourne the arbiter of good taste and female beauty?
I am so thankful for this convention. Iam 27 years old living in Canada and have never been able to understand which case to tick when I am filling in papers. I am north African (don’t consider myself Arab, north Africans speak Arab but are more racially mixed).
I look like a regular brunette, could pass for Italian to Turkish to Syrian to Tunisian. … I have never understood how to present myself ? I honestly never filled in the case of ethnic minority in job documents for example. But maybe I should if the government sees me as so ? It is so confusing.
I am aware of who I am, north African, Mediterranean, speaking Arab. But I have no idea if in Canada and USA I am considered minority/POC or white ?
I don’t think there is one easy answer. I think it comes down to however you personally identify. If you consider yourself white because of your skin tone, then so be it. If you consider yourself a POC because of your heritage then so be it.
I like her a lot.