(Photo Courtesy Of Google Images)
The BET annual cookout (2014 BET Awards) has come and gone, but not without some highlights. Cousin August Alsina got emotional because he’s finally doing something positive and not in someone’s jail cell. While we celebrated little bad a** Breezy (Chris Brown) for finishing his jail sentence, his big brother Usher was trying to prove he still got it. Our drunk aunties got excited to see our uncles from the nineties. Uncle Lionel Richie got us to jitterbug and Aunt Phylicia Rashad paid remembrance to our fallen grandmothers (Ruby Dee and Maya Angelou). And of course our sister Beyoncé, along with her husband Hov, sent us their best wishes through Skype. Now on to the topic for today. It seemed that our other big sister Nicki Minaj, wasn’t feeling the love that T.I.’s other woman Iggy Azalea was receiving. Now Nicki’s speech might have made her seem pressed (in some parts – yes), but there is some truth in her rant.
The main reason why I believe Nicki was upset was because Iggy is quietly taking over Nicki’s White audience. How? Simply because Iggy is well, White. Now before you go ‘here she go with that race talk again,’ think about it. Not since the late 90’s/early 2000’s have two female emcees been hot at the same time. Prior to the arrival of Nicki Minaj, female emcees haven’t been major since Missy Elliott’s glory days. Up until today, Nicki really never had a threat to her number one position. I mean who in mainstream was challenging Nicklaus (throwback for my real Nicki fans)? Eve? Foxy Brown? Lil Kim? Azealia Banks? Lola Monroe? I mean Iggy was underground, but outside of West Hollywood, nobody but Clifford was checking for her. Then Iggy went to Eve’s playbook, snatched out the “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” page, and changed the title to “Fancy.” Now for the past three weeks, “Fancy” has been the number one song on Billboard’s Hot 100. Meanwhile, Nicki’s new single “Pills N Potions” isn’t even in the top 20. Now back to why I said Iggy is taking Nicki’s White audience.
It’s kind of like what I said in a previous article about White America liking R&B/Hip-Hop more, when the artist resembles them. Vanilla Ice. Eminem. Macklemore. Fergie. But Nicki was fun and colorful with songs that soccer moms loved. When it comes to the White audience, Nicki Minaj made a bigger profit off them than her Urban audience. But that trend will soon decline, due to Iggy. And lets face it, Iggy is trash. Whoever ghostwrites for her should be fired. With that said, Iggy being trash didn’t stop MTV from putting her performance on the cover of their review for the Highlights of the BET Awards. It didn’t stop her from having a number one single. Face it, White America got Iggy now, and they don’t need those Pop/Hip-Hop tracks from Nicki anymore and Nicki knows this.
Nicki knows that it was the TRL audience and not the 106 audience that were pounding the alarm and riding in “Starships.” She knows that “Super Bass” became a huge hit because Taylor Swift and her look alikes were on YouTube singing that song. She also knows that what she once had a monopoly on is now seeking other suppliers. And her demanders are currently looking at the blonde haired Aussie with the Charli Baltimore flow. Nicki Minaj is going to have to step it up because America is about the new faces now. Meaning they are going to over-hype Iggy and praise her until the cows come home. So instead of ranting on stage about authenticity (which, c’mon Nicki, you – no), maybe Nicki should finally act like an emcee instead of getting high with bunnies. Because Nicki now has a contender for her spot and that contender has the edge due to her skin complexion. So like what Mathew Knowles once told Beyoncé about competing with the Britneys and Christinas, Nicki better work ten times harder than her Caucasian counterparts. Simply because White women will always have the upper hand. Now if you will excuse me, looking at Uncle Busta Rhyme’s jacket got me craving some Cheesecake Factory. -Pooh Bailey
