She has eclipsed pretty much every track that was released on that same day thanks to a mixture of controversy (blogs still talking about the unofficial artwork), ****** being upset, women being empowered, Vine, and IG as well as remixes from rappers on a mainstream level and an underground level as well as everyday people.
Nicki Minaj has harnessed the concept of balance like few artists before her: it’s a major part of her success in every imaginable realm, from music to merchandising to the cultivation of her persona. She’s a pure pop star who crashes the charts and pals around with toddlers on The Ellen DeGeneres Show; simultaneously, she’s a ferocious, obscenely talented MC who makes a habit of chewing up and spitting out rappers crazy enough to let her drop the hammer on a guest verse.
She isn't just for repping like-minded fans anymore. Her labyrinthine bars are more like misandry mission statements [...] She's using the exact language men use to hold women down to turn them into the fairer sex. And instead of delineating herself as the only woman able to do this, she's drafted a blueprint (or, pink print in this case) for other women to do the same [...] She's potentially opening up the floodgates—with a little preemptive push from Beyoncé—for a year dominated by women.
No matter how crude and unsophisticated her method of delivery may have been there is substance to her argument: she is in essence assuming the same representational space as Malcolm X, just in a different setting, time, space and understanding. Think about the context in which we see Malcolm X peering out of his window. What’s being represented in that image?
he image poses both an unwavering heroism and intimate vulnerability. It speaks to the viewer in the same way a portrait of a woman standing in front of her children with a shotgun pointed at an intruder would. She’s essentially propagating the same notion. Only her opposition is not would be assassins, but rather male hegemony: a misogynistic system of oppression in which men lay claim to biological superiority, allowing them to set the rules of society and define gender roles.
In her video, Minaj employs the same narrative concept implied in Malcolm’s photo. She is aware of her role and the limits of her power, even as an international pop star. And while she has played the game, both to her detriment and benefit, she is now looking to take that power into her own hands; the same power constituted in Malcolm’s posture.
