Did Rapper Nicki Minaj Go Back in the Closet, Or Is Multiple Identities Her Shtick?
Vanessa Carlton comes out as bi. That Real Housewives chick lets everyone think she’s a lesbian. But Nicki Minaj, the bisexual Queens rapper, is ditching her queer status and re-branding herself as straight?
Minaj has made no secret of her lady-loving ways, but in a new interview with Black Men magazine, she says, “I don’t date women and I don’t have sex with women. That’s, of course, until Cassie comes available.” Well that’s news. Or maybe Minaj only has the hots for ladies named Cassie?
In her song “Lil’ Freak” with Usher, the blog AfterEllen skims the lyrics:
Excuse me little mama / But you could say I’m on duty / I’m lookin for a cutie /A real big ol’ ghetto booty /I really like your kitty cat / and if you let me touch her / I know you’re not a bluffer / I’ll take you to go see usher / I keep a couple hoes / like Santa I keep a Vixen / Got that Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, / Dixon, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen. / I’m hotter than 100 degrees / A lotta bread no sesame seeds / If I’m in yo city / I’m signin’ them tig-o-bitties / I’m plotting on how I can take Cassie away from Diddy / The girls want a Minaj yeah they wetter than a rainman / Usher buzz me in / Everybody loves Raymond
It’s hard to keep track of which sexuality Minaj is identifying with, because it swaps in and out so effortlessly. But maybe Slate‘s Jonah Weiner captured the real essence of Minaj: She is full of contradictions, and pushing different versions of her self is, in fact, who she is.
In several songs, rapper Nicki Minaj describes herself as a proud bisexual—she has a special weakness, we learn, for ample-bottomed girls. In others, she is defiantly straight: insisting that she prefers men, dropping “no homo” disclaimers to drive the point home. In “Brrraaattt,” she plays a thug, firing semiautomatic weapons at her rivals. In “Cuchi Shop,” she plays a madam in charge of a stable of prostitutes. In interviews, she announces herself as a would-be role model for young girls. She says she’s from Queens, N.Y., but in several songs she slips into accents that suggest she’s from England or perhaps the San Fernando Valley. On one song, a 2008 mix-tape track called “Autobiography,” she seemed to imply that her father had killed her mother—an interpretation that has circulated on message boards, although she has since mentioned her perfectly alive mom in interviews. At the song’s start, she identifies herself as Nicki Maraj, pronounced mirage. It’s tempting to read into the moniker some acknowledgment that, with this MC, things aren’t always what they seem. Except it turns out that Maraj is the surname she was born with. Or is it? Who are we talking about again?
Playing straight lets Minaj battle with gals like Lil’ Kim. Playing bi amps up her mystique. And jumping between the two possibilities makes her worth talking about. Mission accomplished?
This is exactly was I was saying in my other post. Do these broads benefit pop culture or the LGBT movement?
I think we all know the answer to these questions….
Nikki will say and do whatever she is told to do as long as you wave 100 dollar bills in her face. And this further proves women being liberated to do as they please reguarding sexual encounters. While men sit here and remain in a box. This culture is so pathetic its sickens me. Just imagine a male rap act doing this for exposure? Yea, he’ll be exposed alright. His limbs will be busted to the white meat exposed. And talk about a rap career when all you hear in battle raps is fagget, queer, and sissy……….
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Not sure if you know this or not but Cassie is a female rnb artist so she was being playful, she’s not denying her bisexuality it is POSSIBLE (maybe something sluts can’t imagine) to be attracted to (in her case women) and not have sex or date them, that doesn’t mean she’s denying her attraction to women.
Wake up Queerty, bunch of squares
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Nicki Minaj is a construction of sleazy straight guys. Her connection to GLBT rights is zero. Think “porn whore” and you get close to what she’s all about.
Haven’t I told you that these sub-moronic attention whores are going to harm our movement? It’s time for the females in our movement to speak out against these man-pleasing doormats.
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In her short interview with Details a bit ago, she said, “I look at rap as an opportunity to act. My head is full of different characters—in each song I’m auditioning a character.”
So yeah… There’s that.
Even if she isn’t bi, she’s certainly an ally to the community to some extent. And I think gays could really do worse in the rap world….
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Yeah, I agree this is about the issue being her trying to cater to straight male fantasy. Sorry, I don’t buy the “acting.” Her “acting” just happens to fit what straight male’s want? Yeah, right. Its about selling herself. And, acting like a sleezy “bi” woman is a time tested route to fame because straight men eat this sort of fantasy up. They really do believe they have a shot with her.
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FUCK Nikki Minaj! I’m so SICK of this phony Bitch!
She is swagger jacking Lil Kim and
the bitch has ZERO talent!
Hopefully, she’s in her 14th minute of fame,
which means; I won’t have to see this fat cunt again!
Lil Kim will always be the QUEEN BEE!
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Uhhh… Lil Kim is over and we all know it. Her latest single tanked even with T-Pain on the track. The last time she had a top 40 hit was in 2005, and the last hit she had of any significance was on the back of 50 Cent’s 15 minutes with “Magic Stick” in 2003. So let’s stop pretending that Kim is still relevant, because we all know she could release anything right now and it wouldn’t go anywhere. Yes, Kim paved the way- but audiences are fickle, especially in the world of hip hop. There is a big difference between influence and relevancy.
Regardless of Nicki’s sexuality, I think the gays will embrace her like we do most empowering female artists.
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Yeah, I wouldn’t expect much of Queerty’s audience to even know or understand much about Nicki Minaj without a good amount of Googling. And while I hear her music Every. Goddam. Day., I’m not a fan.
That being said, I see no reason why gay men should be upset by a woman proclaiming herself as bisexual, even if she isn’t. Having a pretty fucking big Rapper claiming to be bisexual is a bad thing? Even if it is an act, so what? How does this hurt us in anything more than loosely held and unevenly applied principal?
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Having a pretty fucking big Rapper claiming to be bisexual is a bad thing?
YES IT IS A BAD THING:
When her coming out does nothing for the encompassing GLBT rights. All it does is line her pockets up. Do you really think her coming out is lifting the burden off males?
If you do, I feel sorry for you. Cause you’ll watch women excel over you in the years to come.
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if bisexual or homosexual women are more accepted in this society (American) and they can have the opportunity to improve because of this,it’s super fine with me.anyway, men are the morons who don’t want to move forward and progress.i also want to point out that female bisexuality,specially lesbianism,and transgenderism in latin america are huge taboos.homosexual men can do very well in latin america and spain,they don’t suffer the discrimination that lesbians,bisexual women and transgenders have to experience.no wonder there are no lesbians or bisexual women out of the closet in the media.
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Nikki Minaj is simply a reflection of how women use their sexuality as a marketing ploy. They’ve done this for years using various tactics, particularly revealing clothing and now “bisexuality”.
These women are serving patriarchy. Under no circumstances are they serving the GLBT cause.
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“men are the morons who don’t want to move forward and progress”
This is why I say this is a battle within males. Women are more understanding and liberated with their sexuality. Men on the other hand haven’t even acknowledge our battles yet. All we do is fight other useless battles. We have to liberate our mindset. Then the wheels wheels will finally get greased.
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Revemupman,
No, women are not more liberated in their sexuality than men. They are simply more inclined to use their sexuality as a marketing ploy to appeal to men. It’s an important distinction.
These sub-moronic types like Nikki Minaj are not promoting “liberation” of women. They’re promoting alignment and submission – that is, alignment and submission of women to male heterosexual fantasy.
It’s important that this be understood.
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@Revemupman: And to repeat- the fact her behavior just so happens to conform perfectly to straight male fantasy blows your whole post out of the water. She’s not giving her fantasy. She’s giving straight men their fantasy. There’s nothing liberating about it.
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Y’know, she’s not harming any of us except in a vague nebulous theoretical way. And its showbiz: of course there are distortions, thats what its all about. If she wants to make a buck off of idiot straight guys who can’t tell the difference between fantasy and reality, or the straight guys who don’t care and just find it hot, let her. Doesn’t hurt me (or anyone) at all.
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Ashley, I have received other comments on my blog about this.
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What men (gay and straight) dont understand about us women is that bisexuality is a norm within our (women) community, and we dont really have any moral objections to pursuing our fantasies. Most females hug and kiss each other and sometimes…it escalates, it doesnt mean we are dating or in love with each other. Just a momentary physical connection. So you cant really compare straight men with straight women, men are much more constrained emotionally and socially. Hell they refuse to even hug each other.
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You people are so gullible! She is whatever her record label wants her to be. I HIGHLY doubt that she was bisexual to begin with. It’s an image that they wanted her to have.