Nicki Minaj Defends Black Artists Speaking Out On Injustice

Nicki Minaj lends her voice to the growing debate over police killing of unarmed African American men and not facing any form of punishment.

The Young Money rap diva covers the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine, where she defends black artists speaking out on the death of Eric Garner and Mike Brown.

“It’s sickening, and I’ve been reading so many people saying, ‘Why are we surprised?’ That’s what’s really sad: that we should somehow be used to being treated like animals,” Minaj said. “It’s gotten to the point where people feel like there’s no accountability: If you are law enforcement and you do something to a black person, you can get away with it.”

Nicki MInaj also spoke about why more black celebrities are not speaking out about injustice and other social issues.

She points to Kanye West, who was the unofficial spokesman for hip hop and his fallout after his public criticism of President Bush following hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

During his performance at A Concert for Hurricane Relief in September 2005, Kanye West famously said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

“I feel like when Public Enemy were doing ‘Fight the Power,’ we as a culture had more power — now it feels hopeless,” Minaj said. “People say, ‘Why aren’t black celebrities speaking out more?’ But look what happened to Kanye when he spoke out. People told him to apologize to Bush!”

“He was the unofficial spokesman for hip-hop, and he got torn apart,” she says. “And now you haven’t heard him speaking about these last couple things, and it’s sad. Because how many times can you be made to feel horrible for caring about your people before you say, ‘F**k it, it’s not worth it, let me live my life because I’m rich, and why should I give a f**k?'”