nicki minaj
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It looks like the Nicki Minaj and Cardi B beef just went up another notch as the two women’s husbands are now squabbling on social media.
On Saturday night (Sept. 16), videos of Nicki’s hubby, Kenneth Petty, hit social media in which he and some of his goons were “outside” in New York City looking for Offset after the two got into a weird back-and-forth via Instagram DMs. It seems like Offset rubbed Petty the wrong way by sliding into one of Petty’s homie’s DMs and basically welcomed whatever smoke Petty and company had to offer by calling them “p***y” and saying they “don’t got money for war.”
Apparently, someone in Petty’s crew took to IG and threatened to slap up anybody at the VMAs if they dared to sit in their row of seats, and Offset had an opinion about it for whatever reason.
Feeling disrespected, Petty rounded up some of his peoples and took to the streets in search of Offset and posted a video of themselves calling him out as they stalked a location where Offset was supposedly laying up at. Talking about the situation and calling Offset out, the crew seemed like they were ready for whatever, but luckily, for everyone, nothing actually went down.
We’re not sure where they got their intel from but Offset wasn’t anywhere near that spot as the man was off on his grizzly living his best life. Responding to Petty and his crew’s video, Offset uploaded a video of himself laughing off the threats as he got off a private jet. “These ni**as is broke,” he said in the video.
Yeah, we’re not feeling how this situation is unfolding now. It’s one thing to have Cardi and Nicki throw shade and subliminals on records, but once their hubby’s begin to taunt each other on some street ish, that might turn into a tragic situation at some point. Cooler heads need to prevail for the sake of everyone involved.
What do y’all think of this situation? Sound off in the comments section below.
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Source: Activision / Call of Duty / 21 Savage
How many kills can you rack up with 21 Savage in Call of Duty? A LOT, now that his skin is available in Call of Duty and Warzone.
Following the release of Snoop Dogg and Nicki Minaj’s operator skins, 21 Savage is the next Hip-Hop superstar who will be playable in both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Warzone.
Launching Tuesday morning, Sir 21 Savage will bring some catchy adlibs and his finishing move hilarious named “Stabbed . . . a Lot,” a play on his single “A Lot” off his 2018 album, I Am > I Was.
Per the Call of Duty blog, 21 Savage’s arrival will feature the Tracer Pack: 21 Savage Bundle that will include two weapon blueprints named after two of his popular songs, the “Savage Mode” Assault Rifle and the “Red Opps” SMG.
For his secondary weapon, 21 Savage is armed with his “Slaughter King” melee tool, and the bundle will also include the “Skrrt Skrrt” UTV Vehicle Skin, a Charm, a Sticker, and, of course, a “Mr. Right Now” Loading Screen.
Sir Savage joins Snoop Dogg and Nicki Minaj in Call of Duty’s celebration of Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary, but they are not the only cool additions coming to the game.
Lara Croft Is Also Coming To Call of Duty
A familiar face in video games, Tomb Raider’s own Lara Croft will also be an operator in the popular first-person shooter video game.
According to the Call of Duty blog, Lara Croft will be available on September 9. She will include a new version of the “Ice Axe” melee weapon, the “Mythic Defender” SMG, and, of course, her signature “Mach-5” dual pistols based on the new sidearm, plus her “Play for Sport” finishing move.
The bundle will also include the “Tomb Buggy” skin for the Chop Top, a Loading Screen, a Sticker, and an Emblem.
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Photo: Activision / Call of Duty / 21 Savage
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Rejoice Nicki Minaj fanatics for your queen has returned with some new material to get your body grooving once again, but there is a small catch.
After weeks of teasing her new cut “Last Time I Saw You,” Nicki Minaj took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to announce that the track has dropped exclusively on TikTok. The general release is dropping Friday (Sept. 1). Naturally, fans flocked to TikTok to take in Nicki’s latest offering, and the pop-sounding cut is already the talk of the town as fans of the Barb can never get enough of the Trinidadian superstar from Queens.
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While this may be the first single off of her upcoming sequel to her Pink Friday album, there’s still no word on when that project will actually hit the streets, but creating a buzz in this manner will only further build up the hype for the highly anticipated LP. Couple that with the possibility that the album will feature a cameo from her new buddy, Ice Spice, and y’all already know that Nicki’s gonna have a hit on her hands whenever her project sees the light of day.
Check out the snippet for “Last Time I Saw You” below, and let us know if you’re counting down the hours to get your hands on the track in the comments section below.
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Nicki Minaj is in a lighter mood as she’s announced that someone who swatted her home now has a warrant out for their arrest.
According to reports, the Pinkprint rapper relayed the news to her fans in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Wednesday (Aug. 23). “Stephanie Bell,” Minaj wrote, naming the alleged troll. “A warrant is in the system. Great detective work. So grateful. The DA filed one count for the swatting call and one for the false report to DCFS. To God be the glory.”
Law enforcement officials did confirm that Bell is wanted for arrest on two charges of deliberately reporting a false emergency. The rapper had made another post on X earlier in the day, clowning the person: “To the woman who made those swatting calls to my home…#WasItWorthItDumbo ?”
The person allegedly identified as Stephanie Bell is accused of being responsible for the call made to 911 in July that claimed that someone had been shot at Minaj’s home in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The call led to police officers swarming her residence, ultimately determining that it was a false alarm. Prior to that, there was a call made to 911 the month before claiming that there was child abuse going on in the household, with the individual even going as far as to contact child services. The police were then tasked by policy to speak with the 40-year-old music artist and her husband, Kenneth Petty, and determined that there was no evidence of any abuse.
The rivalry between fans of Nicki Minaj and fans of Cardi B has fueled some of the animosity in the air leading to these incidents. Online fans of the “Bardi Gang” have gone to such lengths as creating and circulating a fake petition on Change.org targeting Petty and claiming that neighbors wanted him out.
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The orders are detailed and easily located on X, the app formerly known as Twitter: “We need to tackle Amazon, iTunes and [the French music service] Qobuz expeditiously.” For each platform, instructions describe a strict purchase regimen. “One copy per version with new card/payment method/new email, new IP address.” Anyone hoping to execute this plan properly must plan ahead. “You will need to have multiple new emails, prepaid debit cards like the Cash App card… eGift cards you can buy at different Wifi locations, cafes, gym[s], friends’ and neighbor[‘s] homes.”
Rotating through multiple burner emails, cards and IP addresses — this sounds like the stuff of an elaborate digital scam. In fact, it’s a plan to maximize sales of a recent single (that wasn’t named in the thread). Blueprints like this one, itemized and exacting, are increasingly common on social media and in fan forums, disseminated over the years by fans devoted to BTS, Nicki Minaj, Blackpink, Harry Styles, and more.
Their popularity demonstrates a fundamental shift in the role that charts play in the modern music landscape. Before the advent of social media, “the charts were primarily an industry concern,” says Adam White, who served as the Billboard editor in chief for a time in the 1980s. “And the industry — retailers, record companies, radio stations — were in a position to shape and influence those charts.”
But in recent years, superfans have commandeered efforts to boost their favorite acts’ chart performance. “Fans have become very savvy about how the industry is creating these metrics,” says Michelle Cho, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto who studies fandom and Korean culture. “They will take the time to try to figure out what they need to do to protect their artists from losing some of the visibility that they think their artists deserve.”
That impulse often sets passionate fandoms on a collision course with any music industry body charged with measuring listener activity. In recent months, zealous fans have individually bought a great many digital downloads of the same song — a splurge that actually doesn’t count towards the chart, because there is a limit on the number of purchases from a single consumer that are eligible each week. Still, the strategy in part prompted Billboard to change its chart rules earlier this summer: The rankings now exclude downloads from artists’ web stores, which usually operate with far less limitations than iTunes or Amazon.
Devout listeners also sometimes play their favorite artists’ songs in ways that run afoul of the streaming platforms’ rules. Last summer, for example, an internal SoundCloud email reviewed by Billboard noted that “Bad Decisions,” BTS‘ collaboration with Benny Blanco and Snoop Dogg, was the most popular track in the U.S. that week on the platform. But the same email noted that the song “exhibits suspect play patterns suggestive of abuse.” (SoundCloud declined to comment.)
“The DSPs have to regulate their platforms, cap streams per user, and it creates these battles with the fanbases,” says one former Spotify employee. “Various K-pop fanbases, for example, at most moments hate Spotify, because they think that Spotify is scrubbing too many streams off of the overall stream counts.” (Spotify did not respond to a request for comment. Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, declined to comment.)
Coming up with creative ways to manipulate listening platforms — and the charts they report to — used to be the specialty of record companies. Before 1991, Billboard‘s sales charts were compiled by calling up a panel of retailers and simply asking what titles were selling. “Record labels and distributors routinely used strong-arm tactics and bribery to sway the process in their favor,” The New York Times reported in 2001. Geoff Mayfield, then director of charts at Billboard, told the paper that “one distribution company president complained that some of his employees spent two and a half work days per week trying to influence how stores reported.”
The Soundscan system — now known as Luminate — was implemented in 1991, bringing a new level of rigor to chart-data collection by tracking the bar codes of CD sales. But that didn’t stop labels from attempting to tilt the charts in favor of their acts. “You build a better mousetrap and all of a sudden the mouse starts finding ways to get around your trap,” SoundScan co-founder Michael Shalett said in 1996.
At the time, fervent fans did what they could to impact charts, but their means of doing so were limited. They could buy multiple copies of a CD, though that quickly becomes prohibitively expensive. And for charts like the Billboard Hot 100 that combine sales and airplay, they could try to increase spins by calling into a radio station and requesting a song.
Fans’ leverage over the charts has increased exponentially since then. Social media makes it far easier to mobilize a large number of geographically dispersed fans around a common goal. And now that the charts incorporate streaming, everyone with access to a phone or computer can listen during every waking hour — and set a service to keep playing music when they’re asleep, too. “It enables each individual fan to intervene in different ways,” Michelle Cho explains. “You can use your time.”
Many modern fandoms are now doggedly fixated on — and vocally competitive about — commercial statistics. K-pop fans appear especially effective at organizing around achieving specific chart goals. “When K-pop came in, it was like nothing that any chart-juicing machine had ever done before,” according to the former Spotify employee. “Just on a completely different scale and level.”
Bernie Cho, president of DFSB Kollective, a Seoul-based artist and label services agency, says that, “for many K-pop acts, measuring ‘success’ has become a straight up numbers game.” He compares the “massive mobilization of top tier K-pop fan-clubs” to “the impressive precision of an elite military operation.”
This mobilization process can also resemble a music-industry version of the political action committees (PACs) that draw scrutiny in the U.S. every election year. Fans often raise money online to buy extra copies of albums or singles and then disburse the cash among other fans to make those purchases, usually with the explicitly stated goal of pushing a release up the chart. These groups routinely tweet that they have amassed pools of tens of thousands of dollars at a time.
There’s no way to tell where the funds originate, even when @JiminFunds tweets “we received [an] $18,420 generous donation from Chinese fans.” While there are rules dictating where PACs are allowed to raise cash, there are none governing the use of internationally-raised money for purchases impacting U.S. music charts. Still, using funds from abroad to signal demand domestically makes it hard to accurately judge the popularity of a given track Stateside.
It’s difficult to quantify the effect that the fundraising and donations have on a single’s chart position. However, it’s notable that when artists with passionate, organized fanbases debut high on the chart, they often do so on the strength of download counts that are wildly above the industry average.
While the Hot 100 takes into account downloads, streams, and airplay, downloads have not been the dominant driver of singles’ success since 2014. During the first half of 2023, the average Hot 100 entry owed less than 4% of its chart points to downloads. Nicki Minaj‘s recent top 10 hits, in contrast, generated between 25% and 41% of their chart points from downloads. Beyoncé and Britney Spears have also managed to reach download percentages comparable to Minaj’s within the last year on a release apiece.
These efforts pale when compared to top 10 debuts from K-pop, which routinely rely on downloads to account for more than 50% of chart points. Earlier this year, Jimin drew close to 80% of the chart points for “Like Crazy” from downloads. (In 2021, RM from BTS said that “if there is a conversation inside Billboard about what being No. 1 should represent, then it’s up to them to change the rules and make streaming weigh more on the ranking.”) No one has topped Jimin’s mark in recent history on a top 10 debut, though Jason Aldean came close, earning 76% of his chart points from downloads the week he debuted at No. 2 with the controversial “Try That in a Small Town.”
The music industry’s future appears increasingly wrapped up in those listeners who also happen to be big spenders. The growth of streaming is slowing. Superfans, however, shell out “80% more money on music each month than the average U.S. music listener,” according to Luminate’s recent mid-year report. A recent email from the company cited that 80% statistic again, adding that it “provides excellent opportunities for merch upsell to this valuable group.”
Labels have taken note. Earlier this year, prominent executives — including Michael Nash, Universal Music Group’s executive vp of digital strategy, and Robert Kyncl, Warner Music Group’s CEO — said that they hope a new streaming model will offer more ways to harness superfans’ spending power. In May, for example, Kyncl told analysts that he had assembled a team to focus on four initiatives, one of which was “evolving our products to better monetize the artist and songwriter superfan relationship.”
“It’s one thing to get into certain artists because you like their style,” Michelle Cho says. “It’s another where you feel a responsibility to caretake — your efforts are an act of reciprocal support. That idea, even if in some cases it’s illusory, is a really potent one for motivating more investment, engagement, and commitment on the part of fans.”
This can work out well for labels, especially if they can come up with new ways for fans to signal their allegiance that align with chart rules. It’s common now to see artists release multiple alternative versions of a song — often halfway through a week when they’re looking for a sales boost down the final stretch. A more extreme version of this takes place on the Billboard 200 albums chart, where artists are boosting their performance — and revenue — by releasing numerous variants of elaborate packages designed to encourage multiple purchases.
K-pop leads the way here, though other artists are quickly catching up. Take the group NewJeans, who recently debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 2nd EP ‘Get Up’. There are more iterations of the Get Up CD — 14, with different packaging individualized to different group members and randomized branded merchandise inside — than there are minutes of music on the disc, which runs 12:13. Fans who feel the urge to “caretake” will happily scoop up multiple copies, stimulating sales.
These developments mean that labels no longer have to spend half of every week trying to influence the charts, as they did in the old days. They just have to give the most hardcore fans more ways to spend money — money that might not even be theirs.
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Nicki Minaj has fallen victim to swatting once again. Cops rushed to her home after a call was made to 911 saying someone was shot at her residence.
As spotted on TMZ Queens, New York native was the latest target of celebrity harassment. Last week an unidentified individual placed a phony phone call to local police claiming someone had been shot at her mansion. The authorities quickly rushed over to the Maraj-Petty household only to find out they were tricked by someone with a terrible sense of humor. The cops pulled up with sirens and lights the San Fernando property.
The celebrity gossip outlet says the “Chun Li” rapper was not pleased one bit at the fact that the force showed up ready for action on a Saturday afternoon. But unfortunately this is not the first time she has been on the receiving end of phony phone call to 911. Back in June cops were dispatched to her home after some called in claiming a child was being abused and that the house was on flames.
According to Dictionary.com swatting is defined as “the action or practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.” Within the last couple years several celebrities have felt been targeted with swatting including Paris Hilton, Rihanna, and Justin Timberlake.
Nicki Minaj has yet to comment on the matter.
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One of the most popular online games is about to get some Hip-Hop firepower. Nicki Minaj and 21 Savage are rumored to be playable Call Of Duty characters.
As spotted on HipHopDX the two rappers are speculated to be forthcoming additions to the acclaimed video game series. On Wednesday, July 12 data miner HeyImAlaix took to social media to break the story. “21 Savage & Nicki Minaj are supposedly coming to MWII/WZ2” he wrote. For those not familiar gamer culture the tweet specifically points to Modern Warfare 2 / Warzone 2; Activision’s most recent additions to the series.
Naturally the post quickly picked up traction online prompting him to provide more detail on Nicki and 21’s involvement. “Probably in a war track for season 05, definitely not operators” another account asked to which HeyImAlaix responding “100% operator.” In essence both will be playable characters versus just curating a song for the soundtrack.
Call Of Duty continues to be one of the most beloved shooters throughout Hip-Hop culture. Just earlier this month Lil Uzi Vert invited Nardwaur over to his house to play. “You could just come to my house and have dinner,” Uzi said to the Canadian journalist. “I’ll give you my number, and then I can teach you how to play Call of Duty.” Additionally, back in 2022 Snoop Dogg became a playable character for the game. “This time I’m in the freakin’ game,” Snoop wrote on Instagram at the time. “Excited to be working with the COD team to bring some fly features for you all to enjoy. It’s dope….. y’all can play as me and get these sick items that have Snoop written all over them.”
Activision has yet to confirm the addition of Nicki Minaj and 21 Savage into Call Of Duty.
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Nicki Minaj has given the Barbz something to look forward to this year. She announced that Pink Friday 2 is coming at the end of the year.
As spotted on Hip Hop N More the Queens, New York talent had a big announcement this week and her fans are here for it. On Thursday, June 29 she took to social media to make the big reveal. Dear Barbz, I’ve been trying to find the right time to tell you this for a few days. Due to some really exciting news that I’ll share with you guys @ a later time, I’ve shifted the album date just a tad bit. Trust me, it’ll be WELL WORTH THE WAIT…”.
She went on to give more detail. “but since I AM shifting the date just a tad, I’d like to give you guys a tiny SIP of some more album tea so that I don’t have to get cussed out 🙁 so…here it goes: 🎀
MY NEW ALBUM WILL BE RELEASED ON 11.17.23- 🎀 and she shall be called: Pink Friday 2 🎀” she wrote. Nicki Minaj also took the time to acknowledge her fans for having her back throughout her career. ” I love you guys so much. I am so grateful for the years of support & love you guys have given me. At times maybe I didn’t even deserve all that you have poured into me” she added. “Nonetheless, you. will. love. this. album. I will give tour deets closer to that time, but obviously the tour will start around the first quarter of 2024. I’ll also share the REAL album cover at a later date.”
Her last Queen was released in 2018 and featured songs like “Chun Li” and “Barbie Tingz”. The project has sold over 1,000,000 million copies in the United States since release.
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We’re only weeks away from the world premiere of the pending box office bomb, Barbie, and while anticipation for the film is basically nil, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice have lent their talents to the soundtrack because that Hollywood bag is something else.
Linking up to give a new spin to the classic Aqua hit, “Barbie World,” Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice give the 1997 chart topper some new life as they give it that glamour Queens to boujee Bronx flavor that no one saw coming, nor asked for in 2023 (no shots).
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Naturally, their day-ones support the collaboration, but it doesn’t come without a little controversy as Jason Martin aka Problem is alleging that Nicki stole the idea from him as he was planning on doing something similar with Saweetie. Taking to social media, Martin explained that he and Saweetie “crafted” the record and sent it to Nicki in hopes of getting that collaboration popping for the Barbie soundtrack.
Instead, what they got in return was Nicki replacing Saweetie with arguably the hottest female rapper in the game today, Ice Spice, and what could possibly be the best part of the Barbie movie, “Barbie World” (the flick looks amazingly struggle).
“She said she was gonna do it. Then all of a sudden, a new version was created. Yes, it’s a sample, you can do what you want, but n*gga, you can’t hear one thing, say you’re gonna do this, then go do your version. It ain’t happening like that. Anybody that’s in this business knows that that’s not how this works.”
Martin then posted another video, which he says proves his allegations that Nicki stole the song. Though he’s not picking any sides in this, he promises he “will be compensated.”
Is the man planning a lawsuit, or will he negotiate in private to get his coin? We’ll have to wait and find out.
Check out the video below and let us know if you think Nicki Minaj did him and Saweetie dirty, or if that’s just the game these days.
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Taylor Swift & Matt Healy have reportedly split and the pop star reveals the track list for her upcoming ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’ album, Nicki Minaj gives a release date for her first album in five years, BTS’ “Take Two” goes to No. 1 on the Hot Trending Songs chart, what you should know about […]