Nicki Minaj Blames Racism In Music Industry For VMA Snub; Taylor Swift Makes It About Feminism

Nicki Minaj missed out on a Video of the Year MTV VMA nomination for her “Anaconda” music video and took to Twitter to share her belief that the music industry’s racism is to blame. Taylor Swift, thinking that she was the target of Minaj’s tweet, reacted by making it about being a good feminist.

Nicki Minaj Vs Taylor Swift

Upon hearing the list of nominations for the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards and realizing that her wildly popular “Anaconda” music video had been left out of the top category, Minaj vented her frustrations on Twitter. According to her, she was the “wrong kind” of artist for the Video of the Year and Best Choreography categories.

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

Ellen did her own anaconda video and did the #choreo lol. Remember her doing that kick . Even mtv did a post on the choreo @MTV remember? — NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

U couldn’t go on social media w/o seeing ppl doing the cover art, choreo, outfits for Halloween…an impact like that & no VOTY nomination?

— 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

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

Swift, assuming that Minaj was referring to her as one of the “right kind” of artists, decided to reply. The “Bad Blood” singer seemed to overlook Minaj’s narrative about music industry racism, and subtly accused her of being anti-woman by voicing her complaints.

@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 replied by pointing out that she had never targeted her or her music, but that it might not be a bad idea for her to use her platform to second Minaj’s call for music industry reform.

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

Nothing I said had to do with Taylor. So what jabs? White media and their tactics. So sad. That’s what they want. https://t.co/AfcwoyDvpg

— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

I’m so glad u guys get to see how this stuff works. Taylor took her music off spotify and was applauded. We launched Tidal & were dragged. — NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

Though “Anaconda” missed out on Video of the Year and Best Choreography nods, it was nominated for Best Female Video and Best Hip Hop Video. Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” featuring Kendrick Lamar was nominated for Video of the Year, Best Collaboration, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Special Effects, while “Black Space” picked up Best Female Video and Best Pop Video nods.