#ICYMI: Taylor Swift Vs Nicki Minaj: A Complete Recap
Taylor Swift And Nicki MinajIt’s always sad when friends let little things get between them. In this case, the little thing happens to be an MTV Video Music Award nomination for video of the year. You see, when the nominations for this years’s VMAs were announced last week, it got a lot of people talking, including Nicki Minaj. Nicki took to Twitter to take a shot at MTV when her video for her song “Anaconda” was not nominated for Video of the year. She did this by tweeting a jab at her friend and Republic Records label mate, Taylor Swift’s video for “Bad Blood.” Apparently Nicki is pointing out some kind of injustice, and if she had a body type similar to Taylor’s superhero sidekicks, then she and Beyonce would be given the same kind of treatment as Taylor and her crew.
If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
Oh but trust me. I’ll be on that stage to collect my awards for vid of the year. Feeling Myself & Anaconda. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
I’m not always confident. Just tired. Black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it. https://t.co/2xOvJzBXJX
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
This caused a firestorm of comments online both for and against Minaj’s accusations. Eventually Taylor Swift herself took notice to the comments and must have taken it personally, because she got involved.
@NICKIMINAJ I’ve done nothing but love & support you. It’s unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot..
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 21, 2015
Nothing I said had to do with Taylor. So what jabs? White media and their tactics. So sad. That’s what they want. https://t.co/AfcwoyDvpg
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
This is significant because fans of both these artists know that they have shown love to one another many times in the past, and have even performed together on stage. In fact Taylor even played a huge role in giving Nicki Minaj her props on her debut album, Pink Friday, and gave her a huge boost.
Nicki’s followers may remember that her massive hit “Super Bass” was never originally intended to be released as a single or music video. It first was nothing more than a bonus track on the deluxe version of, Pink Friday. Plans for the song quickly changed however after Taylor Swift, a pop powerhouse at Nicki’s label started singing the praises of “Super Bass”.
Nicki Minaj Featuring Ester Dean
“Super Bass” (Explicit)
From Pink Friday
Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Republic Records
It all started during an interview with Nashville’s 107.5 The River. It was there when Taylor requested the station to play “Super Bass” In that same interview Swift described her love for the song stating, “I’ve been listening to it on repeat and I really freak my friends out because I can recite every single lyric to the rap The DJ then convinced Swift to rap part of a verse from the song on the air. After that clip went viral on YouTube and Republic Records took notice!
Taylor Swift Raps Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass”
In an interview with Los Angeles Pop radio station 102.7 KIIS FM, Minaj said, “Taylor Swift did her little interview about ‘Super Bass’ and [it] took off in the States with the people sort of knowing it…It’s just really uncanny how all that stuff happens…We didn’t plan it like that. “
The song was released as a single, given a sexy music video, and shot up the charts. It became Nicki’s first major Pop crossover hit, and set the stage for Nicki to be able to broaden her image to a more mainstream audience on her future releases like “Starships”, and various collaborations with artists like David Guetta, Justin Bieber and Madonna.
“Super Bass” heated up many different charts, topping the rhythmic Top 40 singles chart, and hitting the top 3 on the US Mainstream Top 40. “Super Bass” also became an Adult Top 40 hit, and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively. Taylor and Nicki even performed “Super Bass” together on stage in Los Angeles as part of Taylor’s Speak Now tour in 2011. Therefore, the song that was released because Taylor Swift was a big fan, helped take Nicki Minaj’s career to new heights. Having said that, it is sad to see two powerful women in the business that have such genuine admiration for one another turned against each other because of MTV’s Video Music Award nominations. Well, thankfully this rift between two of Republic Records’ hottest ladies did not last long. After she realized that Nicki’s criticisms, were directed at MTV decision making process when nominating music videos for video of the year, and not directed at her personally, Taylor quickly took to Twitter to apologize to Nicki.
I thought I was being called out. I missed the point, I misunderstood, then misspoke. I’m sorry, Nicki. @NICKIMINAJ
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 23, 2015
That means so much Taylor, thank you. @taylorswift13 ❤️❤️❤️
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 23, 2015
I’ve always loved her. Everyone makes mistakes. She gained so much more respect from me. Let’s move on. https://t.co/mx9pfIdnzT
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 23, 2015
Taylor Swift Featuring Nicki Minaj
“Super Bass”
From Speak Now-Tour 2011
Nicki Minaj Talks Taylor Swift on GMA
ABC
Nicki Minaj
“Anaconda” (Explicit)
From The Pink Print
Young Money/Cash Money/Republic Records
Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar
“Bad Blood” (Remix)
Big Machine/Republic Records
