Nicki Minaj went on a rant on July 5 about how in the 12 years since her first mixtape came out, she hasn’t got the industry support and respect she deserves for how much she’s accomplished since. But when a fan called her out for it, she invoked Taylor Swift taking on enemy Scooter Braun in a long Tumblr post for buying up the rights to her entire music catalog. Barbz feels she shouldn’t be afraid to speak her own truth the way the “ME” singer did and wishes she could do so without being dragged for it.
“Nicki Minaj has no issue whatsoever with Taylor Swift. Nicki mentioned her in her social post on Friday because she was in the news last week with her post on her music, that is all. Her post had nothing to do with Taylor other than that. She just feels sometimes she cannot speak as freely as other artists without being judged. At times, she feels people come for her and the fan comments began to frustrate her,” a source close to the 36-year-old rapper tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY.
“Nicki truly feels that she helped pave the way for some of these young artists. Nicki believes she is the current queen of hip hop and has worked very hard for that title. Nicki is truly passionate and just wants the same treatment for herself as she feels other artists get,” our insider adds.
On July 5, Nicki wrote a long Instagram message where she said “Twelve years ago I dropped my first mixtape. I wrote every single word on every single song. I was so proud of that. Eventually, the Barbz were all wearing pink hair, Chinese bangs, and Barbie chains. Colorful wigs came all the way back in style. Everyone became Barbies and Dolls. Always shouted out my influences in my interviews. Nowadays, it’s become cool to pretend u weren’t influenced by other artists”
She then pivoted, saying “I never had a crusade by radio stations, influencers & blogs to make my song number one when Anaconda was number two on the Hot 100. I never had a group of men in the studio writing my songs for me so it took a while between albums. Please stop these write ups about what I didn’t do.”
In the comments a fan wrote “I love Nicki but she has got to stop these rants. She [takes] the bait every time which is what they want.” Barbz was so pissed she wrote back “Blocked for being f**kg dumb and wanting black women to keep being afraid to speak their truth. Taylor Swift can speak but I can’t?”