Nicki Minaj thought her videos for two songs — Anaconda and Feelin Myself — should have been nominated for Video Of The Year at the MTV Video Music Awards. Anaconda broke the YouTube record for the most video views in 24 hours. In a series of tweets she expressed her view that prejudies about black women and their bodies contributed to the snub:
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
Minaj was commenting on a societal problem, but Taylor Swift, who was nominated for Video Of The Year, interpreted the tweets as an attack on her.
@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
Minaj made it clear that she was not attacking Swift, but the media narrative was set. Swift and Minaj were in a feud.
In this feud Minaj was cast in the role of “Angry Black Woman,” which is itself a racist trope.
Entertainment Weekly tweeted a photo of a crazed Minaj with a calm Swift:
EW’s tweet was later removed without explanation.
Hollywood Life had a similar take, but with more capital letters:
Nicki Minaj is FURIOUS with MTV's VMAs for snubbing #Anaconda & #FeelingMyself. See her rant: http://t.co/avP9JI7Hb2 pic.twitter.com/OACYomQZBL
— HollywoodLife (@HollywoodLife) July 21, 2015
Radio.com reported that Minaj was going “ballistic”:
Nicki Minaj goes ballistic on MTV over VMA Best Video snub. http://t.co/y8WV8UyZ2g pic.twitter.com/S6XINBzkXI
— Radio.com (@Radiodotcom) July 21, 2015
The effect of this coverage, which focuses on Minaj being angry and feuding with Swift, is not only to reduce Minaj to a stereotype but to completely derail the conversation from the music industry’s treatment of black women.