I need some opinions on Nicki Minaj

[Beorning]

Recently, I happened onto Nicki Minaj and her video Anaconda:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs

Well... I have no idea who Nicki Minaj is, but this video - as well as the song's message - seem all kinds of wrong and disgusting. I mean, it's a song about a woman bragging about her bottom and belittling other women for not being so well-endowed... Sexist much?

I don't know - do you guys have any better knowledge of this artist? Is she being sarcastic in that song, or she her mindset really so awful?

[Inkidu]

Really that awful. She's definitely skinny-shaming.

[wander]

Gonna keep my opinions to myself here for the moment...

What I will say though is that I'm not a fan of her, though that's because I'm not partial to her music rather than what's she like as a person or the messages she wants to put across.

I do actually find her sexually attractive though. 

[RedRose]

[Beorning]

What I'm wondering is: is this song what Nicki Minaj really thinks? Or is it just her persona / act / sarcastic message?

Because if this is really what she thinks, then... wow. Talk about harmful music being released these days...

[wander]

It's not something anyone can really answer but herself...

I find a good section of it empowering, tbh... Though I'm against puritanical standpoints and I believe if someone has it, they should feel comfortable enough to flaunt it.

I get not liking the shaming of those who are naturally thin though. I agree that noone should feel bad about what they are. Though it's a small almost parodic end to an otherwise pretty mindless tune when it comes up more overtly.

Its pretty clearly not be taken seriously, same as the original song it sampled. I'm getting more involved through my stand of being anti-prude and a believer of free speech and anti-censorship. Probably setting myself for a strawman, but ah well... It's just a song about a girl with a big butt at the end of the day... 

[Dhi]

First of all no, she doesn't really feel these things, it's a pop song, a work of fiction, and like just about anyone in the hip hop industry she's playing a persona. Nicki Minaj does not personally harass skinny girls or put her millions of dollars into actually changing standards of beauty.

What may have slipped by you, as someone who's only now hearing about Nicki Minaj, is that the song is an homage to Sir Mix-a-Lot's Baby Got Back. 20 years ago this was a song that did have an impact on culture and celebrated a standard of beauty which, while not completely invisible before, was not mainstream. Sir Mix-a-Lot himself did not understand the appeal of the song at the time and tried to copy the formula later on without success.

Nicki Minaj did understand the appeal of the song as a woman of my generation who grew up with this mainstream message that being broad in the beam is not a shameful thing. No doubt she noticed that this message in the industry is lyricked by men, objectifying women, which can feel like a trashy thing to hang your self-worth on. If she'd done the song differently, sentimentally or backup vocals to the boys, nobody would have noticed. Because she went full measure with an aggressive persona able to hold her own against the men in the industry, the song was a success. Nobody would have cared about Janelle Monet mincing to a bluegrass beat about how big butts are the cat's meow.

Nicki was exactly the right person to pull the sword from the stone after 20 years, the right persona, the right intention, the right sound, and this is probably what she'll be remembered for after a decade of struggling to be heard.

[wander]

I'm being quite serious with the gif, I don't think I could have worded what Dhi said any better.