Nicki Minaj Calls The Grammys Racist For Snubbing "Pink Friday"

Nicki Minaj is sounding off on the Grammys on nominations day.

In a rant on Tuesday, the Trinidadian-born rapper said the Grammys chose to instead recognize a White man. It seems she is reflecting on her career over the last decade as a female rapper. The post made on Twitter said, “Never forget the Grammy’s didn’t give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade- went on to inspire a generation. They gave it to the white man Bon Iver.” She ended the rant with the hashtag #PinkFriday.

Bon Iver is a Wisconsin Indie rock band that ended up taking the Best New Artist award in 2012. Both the band and Nicki Minaj appeared on Kanye West’s rap hit “Monster.” The other nominees for the award were J.Cole, The Band Perry, and Skrillex.

Back then, MTV reported that the band’s lead Justin Vernon “uncomfortably accepted the award in front of the many talented musicians who filled the Staples Center for the award ceremony. Nicki Minaj was heavily favored to win the award for her Pink Friday album, which resulted in Minaj moving from ma mixtape rapper to a global superstar. Bon Iver themselves recorded success as well with their album Bon Iver earning #1 Billboard Rock album and #2 album in the country overall.

This year the the Recording Academy came under heavy scrutiny amid accusations of racism. A University of Pennsylvania Professor of Journalism and African Studies, John Vilanova, in his doctoral dissertation, found that black artists get shut out of the Grammy’s. They rarely get the top honors even though they do get the small honors. His study found “black artists regularly win categories that are considered black music like Rap or R&B, but do less well in the general fields.- album of the year, record of the year, song of the year and best new artist.”

Sean “P Diddy” Combs at a Clive Davis pre-Grammys party in January 2020 called out the Grammys for being racist and said he gave them 365 days to fix it.

Now with Nicki Minaj saying she was passed over in spite of having more billboard hits and claiming to be a victim of the racist Grammy committee’s exclusion, it is left to be seen if the Grammys will respond or change their tactic at the next award ceremony. Nicki Minaj has been blackballed by the Grammys for a few years now.

Never forget the Grammys didn’t give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade- went on to inspire a generation. They gave it to the white man Bon Iver. #PinkFriday
— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) November 24, 2020