Nicki Minaj is baiting us again.
Having already courted controversy with the ass-baring cover art for her second “Pinkprint” single “Anaconda” and its subsequent music video and VMA rendition, the rapper is now raising the ire of commenters for her provocative lyric video to “Only,” which presents Minaj as a Hitler-esque dictator.
Created by Jeff Osborne, the animated clip takes a number of cues from the Nazi propaganda films of Leni Riefenstahl, with a red-white-and-black “YM” insignia standing in for the swastika and a statue of Minaj's “Anaconda” pose situated at the top of a building that looks suspiciously similar to the main grandstand that served as the centerpiece of Hilter's infamous Nuremberg rallies.
Reaction on social media was swift:
hey @NICKIMINAJ thanks for the blatant nazi imagery in your new video! really great allusion to persecution &genocide pic.twitter.com/prjM58hhMQ
– Melissa Morgan (@melissamorgs) November 8, 2014
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why did nicki use nazi propaganda in the only video??? why would she wanna be comparing herself to hitler?? @NICKIMINAJ U let us down :(
– abbey (@aliengrrrI) November 8, 2014
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Nicki Minaj's new video unnecessarily resembles the Nazi regime, surely she could have portrayed power and dictatorship without using Nazism
– Low (@lowdaniels) November 8, 2014
i don't understand how Nicki Minaj's team could think that using Nazi imagery was ok? If she wanted to portray power and conquering,
– Natalie (@wednesdaydreams) November 8, 2014
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Nicki Minaj using Nazi imagery in her newest lyric video literally has me doing the Tyra Banks “WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!!!”
– VICT?RIA (@herrovictoria) November 8, 2014
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Fam are we gonna talk about Nicki Minaj and her 'Only' lyric video though? Here's a hint: how could she nazi what's wrong with this video?
– hungry (@laurenges) November 8, 2014
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I wish I was there when @NICKIMINAJ said to her team “were gonna do a Nazi themed video and I'll be Hitler!” n dey all went “omg yas queeen”
– Tony (@Amaru611) November 8, 2014
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@NICKIMINAJ nicki please apologize for the Nazi imagery in “Only” music video
– Ethan Cox (@fizzly5) November 10, 2014
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Minaj (who hosted the MTV EMAs in Glasgow, Scotland on Sunday) is far from the first artist to appropriate Nazi-style imagery in her music, but to use it as a means of glorifying her career achievements is a pretty ill-advised publicity tactic, to say the least. Charges of Anti-Semitism are off-base – nothing Minaj has done or said in the past has indicated she personally holds those views – but her attention-trolling seems to have crossed a line in this case. It'll be interesting to see how the backlash unfolds as we enter the work week.
What do you think of the video? Let us know by voting in the poll further down the page.