Second Take: Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj’s feud reveals issues of race in media

The music videos for both Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” and Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” both broke the 24-hour Vevo viewing record, but only one was nominated for Video of the Year for August’s MTV Video Music Awards.

After Swift’s hit was announced Tuesday as one of five nominations, Minaj took to Twitter to verbalize her disappointment, sparking criticism of the media’s skewed correlation between race and musical success.

If I was a different “kind” of artist, Anaconda would be nominated for best choreo and vid of the year as well.

— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

When the “other” girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture they get that nomination.

— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year

— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

@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

Huh? U must not be reading my tweets. Didn’t say a word about u. I love u just as much. But u should speak on this. @taylorswift13

— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

@NICKIMINAJ If I win, please come up with me!! You’re invited to any stage I’m ever on.

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 21, 2015

One music video features Taylor Swift and her crew of Victoria’s Secret supermodels in lingerie. The other, Nicki Minaj twerks in the woods and gives Drake a lap dance. Both are racy and record-breaking.

In light of her Video of the Year snub, Minaj seems to refer to the certain “kinds” of artists likely to be nominated as those with differing race, weight or promiscuity. She implies she was not nominated due to her risqué reputation when compared to the perhaps more wholesome image of other, white artists. While she generates an important discussion about flaws in the music industry, Minaj’s snub for Video of the Year was not necessarily driven by her image.

Both Swift’s and Minaj’s videos are clearly provocative. The racy twerking and explicit lyrics of “Anaconda” have certainly been received with a dose of shock. On the other hand, Swift borrowed $13,000 worth of clothing from a sex shop for her video. It’s possible it wasn’t Minaj’s racy actions that lost her the nomination, because Swift showed some skin as well.

Regardless of opinion about Minaj, many recognize Swift’s comments were unhelpful and ironic. People on Twitter backed Minaj for speaking up about the problematic relationship between race and the media.

Historically, white musicians have made up the majority of the nominees for Video of the Year. In 2011, three of five nominees were white. In 2013, five of eight were white. In 2014, four of seven were white.

This year, however, only three of seven artists nominated for Video of the Year are white – a minority for the first time since 2012, when two of five artists were white.

Thus it seems unlikely Minaj’s comments about race apply in this specific case, though it remains a prevalent issue in the entertainment industry as seen with the controversial whitewashing of Emma Stone in “Aloha” and criticisms of rapper Iggy Azalea appropriating black culture.

Both Swift and Minaj have each won two Moonmen previously. Although Swift was nominated for a whopping nine awards in 2015, Minaj had more nominations than Swift before this year. Also, both videos are nominated for a VMA Award for Best Female Video this year. While Minaj’s tweets may have been validated when she didn’t receive equal credit for shattering the same record as Swift, her history of nominations seems to contradict her belief that she goes unrecognized.

Minaj’s snub does not mean she’s been cast aside by the discriminatory industry. She brings up relevant criticisms about the media’s problem with stereotyping – she highlights the differing perceptions of thin models in Swift’s video versus the thicker dancers in “Anaconda.” However, Minaj’s past accomplishments and the increase of non-white nominated artists this year don’t appear to support the idea that MTV didn’t recognize “Anaconda” due to Minaj’s identity.

– Lindsay Weinberg

*****

Nicki Minaj has had enough and justly so.

The snubs do not simply equate to missing Moonmen trophies on Minaj’s cabinet, which Swift seemed to think so. They represent the media’s distaste for the black woman’s expression of sexuality.

The “Anaconda” music video is often misinterpreted as a shallow, objectifying music video of women twerking in a jungle. But, as Minaj envisioned, the video stood for more.

Like her tweets, the video and the song itself represented a marginalized demographic of voluptuous women, rivaling the media’s typical celebration of thin figures. The extensive use of twerking was used to empower, to flaunt, and show pride in black culture and female prowess.

Yet the video was nominated for one Moonman this year, while Miley Cyrus’s culture-appropriating “We Can’t Stop” music video was nominated for five awards in 2013.

There is not much difference in the videos in terms of content. Both videos star free-spirited women expressing themselves through twerking. The only difference is this: “We Can’t Stop” stars a thin, white woman and “Anaconda” stars a thick, black woman.

The nominated “Bad Blood” continued the celebration of white female power as all celebrity cameos were white, lean women. “Anaconda,” on the other hand, brought to light the black, thick women hidden behind centuries of public scrutiny over their figures.

What the snub represents is a double standard between black and white female artists. If breaking records and helping others be themselves, which are messages the media loves to preach, isn’t enough, what else does it want from her?

Although the snubs symbolize no progress in the mindset of the media, the debate it caused on social media is a silver lining. Many Twitter users are demanding an apology from Swift to Minaj, but what she really owes is an apology to all the under-represented black women Minaj defended in her tweets.

As Minaj acknowledged in one of her tweets, it is relieving to see many defending her point of view. Hopefully Swift will join in on the discussion of race and feminism instead of cattily inviting Minaj on stage.

But in the meantime, the best thing to do now is to keep discussing.

– Gail Acosta