"They made me the bad guy," is what Nicki Minaj said during her Apple Music interview with Ebro. That statement, dripping with irony, piqued my interest because I was waiting, and still am, for Nicki to be bold enough to name who "they" are. Don't leave us hanging.
Is the unspoken "They" the female rappers with whom she must share the limelight with after having most of it to herself for 10 years? The girls whom she would rather be a rival to than an idol?
Nicki explained, "It's like a movie. They've made me the bad guy, so I've welcomed the challenge." However, if by "welcomed the challenge," Nicki Minaj is confessing to trying to block a collab between Latto and another artist, spreading false rumors about Megan Thee Stallion, and pressuring fans against supporting Doja Cat, then yes, she has welcomed the challenge a lil too much for my liking.
The math ain't mathing when these supposed powerless girls, whom Nicki and her fans claim can't sell music and copy her, suddenly possess the ability to cast her as the "bad guy."
So, I can't accept this new "Bad guy" narrative that Nicki Minaj wants us to believe. No one turned her into a "bad guy"; she earned the title with every tweet and AMP Radio rant.
WELCOME TO THE PICKLE JUICE ERA
What I do believe is that Nicki Minaj has returned to her acting roots with the goal of pulling all the girls into her self-produced "movie." She exposed her approach during the interview with Ebro, saying, "You're just getting Nicki when you hear the music. The other stuff is work, and some of it is play. I mean, this is my fck'n job; I have to have some sort of fun. If it means making fun of these hoes, why the fck not?"
I remember in 2018 when the industry portrayed Nicki as the evil stepmother in Cardi B's "Cinderella Movie" and then in 2019 as Goliath in Cardi B's version "David and Goliath," the industry was having fun, and Nicki wasn't laughing. Now, she's using the exact marketing tactics in her rollouts and interviews.
Chun-Li, who was never really a "bad guy," has been replaced by the real bad guy, Red Ruby Da Sleeze, AKA Nicki Minaj, as herself.
After whatever deal Nicki Minaj made to get the industry off her pink wig, she now sits comfortably in interviews with those who once tried not only ruining her career but her legacy, conveniently avoiding discussions about what changed from the "Queen Era" to the success of "Pink Friday 2." Was it her finally drinking the pickle juice, or her kissing Drake's ring?
As one of the few blogs that reported on Nicki Minaj being blackballed, seeing her blame the new girls while cozying up to the men who tried to run her out of the industry is pathetic. But hey, she got her hit album, so I guess it all worked out.
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