#TeamNicki and #TeamTaylor hashtags seemed to be repeated upon my timeline over and over on Twitter. Talks of a Twitter Beef and whatnot–I was so out of the loop but I knew something must have occurred. Only, then I find out it happened during the VMAs, the infamous awards for drama. If it’s not Kanye inviting himself to stage to give his unwanted opinion of who should have won, or a three way kiss between Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, it would be a feud between superstars.
This year at the 2015 VMAs, it seemed to be more of a Twitter vent that was blown up by the media. Sure, people were tagged and Tweets exchanged between Hip Hop Queen Nicki Minaj and the Princess of Pop, Taylor Swift, but was it really a feud?
My personal opinion is that it was not. Nicki Minaj was offended that her hit single,”Anaconda,” was not nominated for Video Of The Year despite having 19.6 million views in the first 24 hours released. She was not blaming Taylor but rather the double standard the world holds for people of color.
As most would do during an awards ceremony when communication is limited, the Hip Hop Queen took her frustration to Twitter, a quick and easy way to get harsh thoughts out of your mind.
She wrote, “If I was a different kind of artist, Anaconda would be nominated for best choreo and vid of the year as well. Black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it. If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year”.
While many think it was uncalled for and out of line, Nicki made a valid point on how often the race card is brought up. Society tells you what beauty is. And, currently, skinnier women are set to be the most beautiful, most classy, etc. When a slim body is portrayed nude or half nude, it is seen as classy, tasteful, and even sensually-sophisticated. Yet, when African body frames are portrayed, naturally curvy and thick, it is seen as vulgar and inappropriate. There’s definitely a double standard for the bodies and race. But is Nicki Minaj really the right person to have brought light to the issue when her example is apples and oranges?
Yes, women who are lighter and skinnier are considered more beautiful and classy than darker and curvier women. And the media has photoshopped superstars of African descent to fit this ideal by lightening their skin and slimming down their bodies. But the issue is: Nicki Minaj’s song is indeed vulgar and sex-filled.
After her rant, she went to Instagram to post pictures of “white” bodies that were half-nude and lacked curves, captioning it “Acceptable” and then she put pictures of her own album cover up saying “Unacceptable.” I think the point she missed is the message they convey. While one can seem artful and, yes, with class, the other can lack it by trying to provocatively send a clear message about raunchy sex.
While Nicki Minaj makes a great point about how the double standards for race occur, and how black women are snubbed, she chose the wrong example. For breaking Miley Cyrus’ Vevo record for most views in 24 hours, Anaconda should have absolutely been nominated. But Nicki went an extra mile by complaining about the unfairness of her video being snubbed for curvy bodies.
It’s great to celebrate your roots and curves, telling naturally curvy women that they are beautiful, but the song Anaconda doesn’t actually state that. It is about curves shown in a sex-filled light, kind of opposite of what she was saying society deems acceptable and unacceptable. Anything remotely close to a portrayal of porn and a raunchy attitude will get snubbed–maybe it has nothing to do with slim bodies.
I’m not sure if Nicki was thinking logically or just wanted an excuse people could sympathize with. However, her video did get the most hits in a single day’s release and that shows that it is definitely Video Of The Year worthy.
But, on the bright side, Nicki and Taylor are cool and no crazy feud appeared as the media tried to portray.
Nicki made it clear in a tweet that she loves Taylor “just as much” and did not say a word about her. She also wrote, “Nothing I said had to do with Taylor, so what jabs? White media and their tactics. So sad. That’s what they want…They’re not missing the point, just overshadowing it. Oldest trick in the book”.
Taylor also admitted she missed the point and thought she was being called out and misspoke. She later apologized.
