Nicki Minaj - Hot New Queer Artist to Watch

Nicki Minaj is the hottest new rapper on the scene right now. The buzz surrounding this powerhouse artist is just astounding. Her latest single Massive Attack has the makings of a hit and she has the makings of a star.

Minaj is an openly bisexual female rapper. How cool is that? First of all, I think that female rap can be hugely empowering and I am totally going through a lady rap phase right now, mostly thanks to Nicki Minaj. I think that the music industry and the way they genre and separate music is largely racial and gendered and no one seems to draw attention to that. So for artists to stand outside of that system and make us question it a little, I think is a really important thing, even if it has been done before.

Also I think that Nicki Minaj’s image plays a lot with gender and race and body image all in ways that make us question the status quo. For instance, she is a fierce and harsh rapper, which is something that the public usually associates with masculinity, but at the same time she wears wigs and hot pink. She raps about designer clothing, musical theater, and lesbianism. She has a habit of signing her female fan’s breasts after shows. She was asked about it in one interview:

Q: You sign your fans’ breasts at shows. Do their boyfriends get jealous?


A: If anything, boys are telling me to sign their girls’ boobs. I’ve gone through 15 markers in a single night—because the girls are usually sweating, and a marker will stop writing if the girls are wet.

Another question she was asked was this:

Q: As an openly bisexual rapper, do you think hip-hop is getting more gay-friendly?


A: I think the world is getting more gay-friendly, so hip-hop is too. But it’s harder to imagine an openly gay male rapper being embraced. People view gay men as having no street credibility. But I think we’ll see one in my lifetime.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

She has the makings of one hot diva queer icon. Whether you are a part of the queer community or not, Ms Minaj is certainly one to watch.

See Nicki's Video for her debut single Massive Attack, here.