Ebony‘s Michael Arceneaux says the artist’s use of creative license to make a political statement that her fans could take seriously was irresponsible.
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Speaking with MTV News in August, Minaj told the site, “That’s gon’ be real funny.” before adding, “I’m really excited for the kids to hear it.” We’ve now heard it and what has unanimously stood out was the following line, “I’m a Republican voting for Mitt Romney, you lazy b*tches are [f—king] up the economy.”
Already there’s been a back and forth as to what if anything the quip means. On social media, I noticed that Captain Obvious and his merry band of snarky pedants went above and beyond to remind us that hip-hop is full of metaphor and hyperbole and not everything should be taken so literally. As in, Nicki Minaj isn’t really a monster nor does she have a British gay man named Roman living inside her; therefore, she might not cast a vote for Mitt Romney. That is, if she even can …
Do I believe Nicki Minaj is a Romney supporter? Not particularly, but this is another reminder that Black music, as Leonard Pitts recently wrote, is “now a song of conspicuous consumption and product placement” and that rappers who used to speak on class struggles now present classist talking points to a beat.
Fine, so what if Nicki Minaj is voting or Mitt Romney or not? Still, there’s legit reason to at least wonder why she “jokingly” echoes sentiments from that joke of a candidate.
I understand her right to creative license — so much so that I’m using mine to call that line what it is: irresponsible.
Read the rest of Michael Arceneaux’s piece at Ebony.com.
The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.
Michael Arceneaux hails from Houston, lives in Harlem and praises Beyoncé’s name wherever he goes. Follow him on Twitter.
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