Nicki Minaj finally came down from the high of her strategically scheduled release of the “Only” lyric video. We already talked about the Nazi imagery throughout the vid. Some of you asked why I didn’t discuss the song’s raunchy lyrics. Well I can only complain about so much before losing my mind, which I decided was worth expending on the stunt-queening aspect of Nicki’s publicity trail. The lyrics about Nicki’s cupcake butt and how Breezy and Drake both wanted to hit that? Old hat.
Anyway. Nicki’s video was chock full of unmistakable references to Nazi symbols. The animated video featured Nicki’s cartoon likeness, so she could have defended herself by saying she had nothing to do with the vid. Unfortunately for Nicki, she just told Billboard how she is deeply involved with every aspect of her career. You can bet she approved this video’s theme, and she knew it would coincide with many historical anniversaries. Such as the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall? Rememberance Day? Veteran’s Day. Yep. All of those days.
Nicki decided to play dumb. She faux-apologized on Twitter:
(1) I didn’t come up w/the concept, but I’m very sorry & take full responsibility if it has offended anyone. I’d never condone Nazism in my art.
(2) The artist who made the lyric video for “Only” was influenced by a cartoon on Cartoon Network called “Metalocalypse” & Sin City.
(3) Both the producer, & person in charge of over seeing the lyric video (one of my best friends & videographer: A. Loucas), happen to be Jewish
[From Nicki Minaj on Twitter]
Yeah, this is the same act Nicki pulled when that GQ journo asked about “Anaconda.” Nicki was all, “Butts?!? I have no idea what butts are.” Now she’s all, “Nazis? Not my fault.”
The director of Nicki’s lyric video, Jeff Osbourne, took to his MySpace to defend his work. He posted a screenshot of a gas mask from the video and issued a non-apology that ended with this gem: “So if my work is misinterpreted because it’s not a sappy tearjerker, sorry I’m not sorry. What else is trending?”
Sounds about right. Nicki wanted to #trend with this lyric video. She got what she wanted. Is her apology sincere at all?
Screencap courtesy of YouTube; photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN
Wait people still use MySpace?
That’s always the first comment on every site I’ve read this story!
*Ca-CKLES* Myspace Apologia is what took me clean out the game as well
pretty sure that android illiterate . her handlers giving her bad business advice
Her apology is as honest and sincere as her butt.
Your comment legit made me LOL
omg,, that’s what i was gonna say!
“I’d never condone Nazism in my art” so why did you approve the video? Nicki is in the public eye she should have known there would be a backlash.
Because she probably thinks a Swastika is a gothic cross.
I don’t think she even knows what it is. I’m not defending her just saying she probably doesn’t even make the connection. The twit.
The music aside, Niki and her ilk share a total disregard for the events, people, and places which have made it possible for her, and others like her to have the freedoms, and privileges they do today. They mouth platitudes, but really are clueless. I speak of the victims of the Nazi Holocaust, Feminism, the Civil Rights movement, and the work of people like Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks,Harry Belafonte, Miriam Makeba, Joan Baez and others too numerous to mention. Shame on this unevolved little girl.
Remember the Lookin azz n!??a “art”?
Malcolm X would’ve been proud *extreme sarcasm*.
I’m so sick of celebrities comparing their self-creating “struggles” to traumatic world events. When you get shot at, spit on, blown up, have your family ripped apart, etc. then holla back.
This. Thank you Greata and qtip. Remember Lil Wayne’s lyrics referencing Emmett Till? Yeah, anything from this crew doesn’t surprise me but as a teacher of Black history and art, it is deeply disturbing to see how casually some of today’s young artists can desecrate our warriors and elders. There is a lot of amazing art being made but unfortunately it is this kind of s*** that gets supported. And just as Kanye said in his interview with BBC that a black man talking about bling and drugging and crime is fine but as soon as you speak of your divinity, that’s a problem…I’m not a die-hard Kanye fan but his point in that particular interview is spot on. Amiri Baraka talked about this in “Black Arts Movement: Its Meaning and Potential”, how the (negative) transformation of a conscious poetry movement into “flesh rap” supports our annihilation as a people.
I honestly would prefer somebody not apologize at all than give us the whole “sorry if you’re offended” bit.
I hate when people say ‘if it offended anyone’. Of course it offended people, you wouldn’t be ‘apologising’ if it didn’t.
You mean people are actually offended by the glamorization of the Nazi movement for commercial purposes? You don’t say.
Ooooh I see the people that made it are jewish? Onika girl, why didn’t you mention that from the start? It makes everything sooooo much better.
^This!!!
O you missed the best part her new boyfriend is Jewish also
I can’t stand the “they’re Jewish so it’s okay” schtick. Let’s be honest. I’m white, and if I made a video that glamorized slavery, segregation or any of the other horrendous injustices in the history of black culture, and then tried to say, “it’s okay, I have black friends”… I would be CRUCIFIED, and rightly so. And it wasn’t solely Jewish people affected by the nazi regime. Any minority, any gay person, anyone who has ever been made to feel less than human because they’re different should be angry as hell about this video. She deserves any and all backlash. She’s culpable.
She knew EXACTLY what she was doing! She is trying to stir up controversy, so that SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, will know she is still around! She should be villified for trying to promote herself using NAZI imagery…the NAZI’s MURDERED SIX MILLION HUMAN BEINGS…shame, shame, shame on you, Ms. Minaj!
I agree. She knew exactly what she was doing. Exploiting the murder of millions of men, women and children to get attention is sickening. Non-apology not accepted.
I love how these popstars claim they run their careers, create everything, and then if there’s any backlash, it then becomes someone else. It’s like Gaga and all of her remarks these days, how she was controlled, and forced to do this and do that and her vocals changed without her permission on autotune back in her Fame/Fame Monster days. She is complaining about everything now because her star has faded and her newer music wasn’t a hit and she’s not the darling. She sure wasn’t complaining back then. She was telling everyone she was in charge of everything, blah, blah. This Nicki statement reminds me of that.
Exactly. They want all of the accolades, but none of the responsibility.
“I didn’t come up w/the concept” – Doesn’t she brag ALL the feckin’ time that she is in CONTROL of everything she does???
Except when she f*cks up, obviously!
She’s a bad bitch, don’t you know? That is, until she’s held accountable. When that happens she’s a sniveling, meek little puppet whose demure ways were taken advantage of by some big bad wolf. Nicki is the weakest sort of woman.
exactly! that’s why i can’t stand her! she’s one of those people that blow their own horn and never own up to their mistakes! if they make a mistake, they’re always the victim, it’s someone else’s fault
Oh good lord, how out of touch is someone using Myspace in 2014? That’s just too rich. As for Nicki–Nicki, you’re dismissed. *waves Nicki’s cupcake away*
It’s mostly used for music these days.
Ah the ole ‘the people that worked on it were jewish/black/gay/native american’ line. As if that somehow makes it okay.
I hate non-apologies. Just own it if you aren’t really sorry, this all my friends are jewish and ‘if’ anyone was offended nonsense is insulting.
That’s what really makes me mad – I don’t give a f___ whether you’re completely in control over your image, and every creative aspect that goes into the thing. BUT. At the end of the day you’re the one responsible for what is going out in your name. You’ve either hired someone that’s making you look like shit, or you’re making yourself look like shit. You ALLOWED this to go out. You don’t get to pull the ‘I didn’t come up with the concept’ excuse when you undoubtedly APPROVED this concept.
She infuriates me. Nearly everything this woman does or says is just a desperate cry for attention.
This is like the mother of all non-apologies-not only does it contain “I’m sorry if YOU were offended”, but also “but the guy that directed it is Jewish!” which is apparently the new,”But I’ve got black friends…”. Not to mention the flat out lie of saying that she would never condone the use of Nazi imagery. Except you did and are.
But hey, congrats to her-she got the attention she was looking for.
As Bela Lugosi said; “There’s no such thing as bad publicity”. Dumbass got her wish.
By the way, she’s full of shit.
I think what Lugosi said is very true, to a certain extent. But there does seem to be a line that can be crossed. Lance Armstrong, Milli Vanilli, the guy with the kid show… Peewee Herman… just naming a few… Not that they are relevant here in any way, they just come to mind.
So, with any luck, Minaj has crossed the line and we can say good riddance to bad rubbish. She needs to clean up her act.
Whether she came up with the concept for this video or not this was purely for attention. There used to be a time when artist relied on the music to get them attention. These days it’s about gimmicks and creating controversy.
Finally got around to watching to video. Yeah, I’m not sure that there’s any OTHER way to interpret it.
I’m seeing the Metalocalypse reference, though. I love that show so I did appreciate the style a little bit, but oh my goodness why would you ever put out something like this? Wait, I know exactly why. So why not own it and say, “Yeah, this is my video. It’s got a dark vibe that plays with some controversial themes. Deal with it.” But oh no, once she got her attention she had to not-apologize for it and claim that she “never meant it like that.” Ugh. If you’re going to do it, own it and own the criticism.
That said, the song is, well, it really is old hat isn’t it?
I don’t fully get why so many people- whether it’s celebrities, immature college/teenage boys, whomever- think they’re being so edgy and badass by invoking nazi imagery for the sake of shock value. I haven’t looked at the video myself, so I don’t know whether the people who came up with the concept did it as some kind of critique or not, but I have trouble believing that critique was the main intent of Nicki and her team with this. That doesn’t mean I think she’s some kind of neo-nazi either or shares those kinds of sentiments. I think this was mostly or completely for attention, and even if Nicki herself didn’t come up with the idea, she still likely approved of it before hand.
Normally I have no problem with pop stars engaging in attention-seeking or controversial behavior- I see it as amusing, as part of the fun and part of the game, and a lot of the ‘contoversial’ stuff they do I feel shouldn’t be a controversy anyway- it’s only controversial because society is uptight about it. But I do think a line should be drawn when the attention-seeking requires you to hurt innocent people in some way or profit off of the suffering of innocent people. Same thing with the Eminem thing- he’s profiting off of somebody else’s suffering. (I’ve actually always considered Eminem to be a big attention-seeker to based on the content of some of his music). So even while I don’t think it’s unforgivable, I don’t respect it at all when artists like Nicki Minaj, Eminem, or Madonna resort to using nazis, appropriated racial slurs, domestic violence, homophobia, etc. to garner attention for themselves. I see it as desperate, pathetic, insensitive, and immature, and it makes me question how much they really have to offer as artists.
“(3) Both the producer, & person in charge of over seeing the lyric video (one of my best friends & videographer: A. Loucas), happen to be Jewish”
Really? Are we doing this? It is not OK to use Nazi imagery just because your Jewish Friend totes signed off on it and thinks everyone is overreacting. The Holocaust was horrifying for any number of people and she should be shamed of herself for not having the common sense to just be a little more delicate with emotionally charged imagery like that. But that would require Nicki Minaj to think about something other than her ass and people paying attention to her antics.
I am I obsessed with Metalocalypse and do not see the connection here. The illustration is kinda sorta similar but the nazi theme? Where did a nazi theme come from Sin City or Metalocalypse?
Right? I’m a huge Metalocalypse fan and she needs to leave Dethklok the hell out of it. Blaming your Nazi stiffy on Metalocalypse is not very metal, Nicki.
Dear Nicki Minaj:
1) You do realize that the Nazis would have killed you too, because you’re not white?
2) F- off.