Opinion Piece-The Nicki Minaj vs. Mitt Romney Controversy
By Faith Choi, Jour. 1160

Nicki Minaj’s statement about her voting for Mitt Romney, in her new song with L’il Wayne, was a lyric of pure sarcasm. Minaj, who is originally from Trinidad, is known for her strange clothing, fast raps, and alter egos. The song called “Mercy” from the album “Dedication 4 Mixtape” was released on September 3, 2012. Since then, it has gained popularity for being very explicit, vulgar, and hopelessly controversial.
The lyric that caused so much controversy lies in the second verse of the song where Minaj states: “I’m a Republican voting for Mitt Romney.” Now, just by listening to the first half of the sentence, people will go straight to their computer and tweet something nasty about how Nicki Minaj has “betrayed us all” or how “she’s lost the respect of America.” For those who stayed to listen before unleashing their thoughts onto the Internet, the full sentence actually goes, “I’m a Republican voting for Mitt Romney/You lazy b*tches is f*cking up the economy.”
Nevertheless, a full-fledged Internet storm was inevitable as most of the listeners would’ve been the ones in the first scenario: running to display their opinions without thinking anything through. “Even political pundits entered the fray,” writes Daniel Dale of Toronto Star. Dale quoted Sean Trende, RealClearPolitics senior elections analyst, when he said, “There is about a 0.00000001 percent chance Nikki [sic] Minaj was not mocking Romney voters and is actually endorsing Romney.” Even so, there was a clear divide in viewpoints as people were either defending Minaj or opposing her. No one was in the middle, or if they were, no one jumped in to confess it. This being said, most of the arguments were accusations pointing to Nicki Minaj’s support for the LGBT community.
The assumption that she is bisexual, although she’s never clearly stated this, led people to believe that her voting for Mitt Romney would destroy all hope for her gay fans. What they obviously didn’t account for was her alter ego, Roman. When collaborating with Eminem on the song “Roman’s Revenge,” both artists used their alter egos (Eminem’s alter ego being Slim Shady). When describing Roman, Minaj said, “He’s the boy that lives inside of me. He’s a lunatic and he’s gay.” Since she plays a gay alter ego and has repeatedly supported the LGBT community through Pride Month, her lyric wouldn’t make sense if she actually meant it.
Some of her fans were heartbroken about this song and tweeted they’d “never listen to her music again” when really, there’s nothing to be disappointed about. Her voice and innovation has brought a new light to female rappers and a platform for all minorities. If some of her fans are really going to discard her just because she made a joke, they weren’t really true fans anyway. If they were, they would’ve been the ones to defend her in every possible way. Isn’t that strange? That people, who love something so much, would turn against that exact thing so easily?
During all of the chaos and controversy, new rumors and insights were brought into the situation. As it was broadcasted, the well-known celebrity gossip blog by Perez Hilton (and many others) circulated that Nicki Minaj wouldn’t be voting for Mitt Romney (or Barack Obama, for that matter) as she isn’t considered an American citizen. Sure, what Nicki Minaj rapped was a joke, but perhaps it was an even bigger plot. Maybe she was using a form of reverse psychology to persuade everyone registered, to vote for Obama. Advertisement from a celebrity, such as herself, could get Obama the votes that he needs, although realizing her lyric was a joke might take some brainpower.
Monica Carty, columnist for the magazine “The Eye” in the Columbia Spectator, observed that “the whole cacophony finally died down when the president himself addressed a question about it in a press conference.” This observation rings true as Barack Obama made an effort to understand the lyrics when some couldn’t. He didn’t jump to conclusions and act hurt when the song circulated to him, but rather guessed that she was playing an alter ego and didn’t mean what she said. Sean Michaels, from The Guardian, cites Minaj’s tweet later that day which reads, “Ha! Thank you for understanding my creative humor & sarcasm Mr. President, the smart ones always do… *sends love & support.*” This tweet confirmed that her purpose for rapping her part was to take a poke at the Republicans, a joke she thought people would understand.
Essentially, Nicki Minaj’s statement can clearly be accounted for. Even when the answer isn’t directly clear, there are ways to figure it out. As a singer, rapper, and spokesperson, Minaj has bluntly stated many things without it being much of a problem. She has a right to say such things, and having to explain a joke to people really takes the fun out of creative outlets for the listening pleasure of the audience.