Nicki Minaj and Turning Point USA: Breaking Down the Backlash
Photo from Wendy Wei via Pexels.
Nicki Minaj, a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter, has appeared on the stage of Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest alongside Erika Kirk. After remarks and statements from Minaj, her millions and thousands of fans she has deemed ‘Barbz’ are left wondering what their favorite artist really stands for.
TPUSA is an American nonprofit organization founded by late political activist Charlie Kirk in 2012. The organization advocates for conservative politics and ideas most commonly on high school, college, and university campuses. Other than setting up booths on school campuses, TPUSA does nationwide events like America Fest, Educators’ Summit, Young Women’s Leadership Summit, and more. This past December, they held America Fest from the 18th to the 21st in Phoenix, Arizona.
The reason why Nicki Minaj appearing on anything conservative-related is so surprising is because of her fanbase and the personality she’s built, which helped her rise to global fame. In one of her most famous songs, “Black Barbies,” that was released in November of 2016, she raps “Island girl, Donald Trump want me go home.” In June of 2018 when the Trump administration began separating children from their families, Minaj posted on Instagram talking about how she came to the United States as an undocumented child. She wrote, “I came to this country as an illegal immigrant at 5 years old…This is so scary to me. Please stop this.” The artist accompanied her words with photos from People magazine that showed children in cages.
Nicki Minaj was also known as a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community throughout her career up until now. In multiple interviews, songs, or performances, Minaj mentions her alter ego, Roman Zolanski, who she said was a gay man. A large portion of her fans found this encouraging, helpful, and a form of unique self-expression. In July of 2019, she was scheduled to perform at a festival in Saudi Arabia, and then canceled a show. The canceling was announced in a statement that read, “After careful reflection I have decided to no longer move forward with my scheduled concert at Jeddah World Fest…While I want nothing more than to bring my show to fans in Saudi Arabia, after better educating myself on the issues, I believe it is important for me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community and freedom of expression.” In an interview by Out magazine in 2010, Minaj said that gay men are “definitely a big part of my movement.” She also collaborated with trans singer Kim Petras on the song “Alone” that was released in 2023.
With all of the statements and song lyrics compiled over the years, it is unexpected that Minaj would show at one of TPUSA’s biggest events of the year. On December 18th, she is seen on stage sitting beside Erika Kirk, saying, “I have the utmost respect and admiration for our president”, and “boys, be boys. Be boys, it's okay…there is nothing wrong being a boy.” Throughout the interview, she praises Trump and his administration, talking about her faith journey and her outlook on politics.
The entirety of the interview shocked and disappointed Barbz, which is something they expressed on social media nearly immediately after the video spread. Fans in videos and comments said things like “no longer the queen of rap”, “she forgot who her fans were”, “Idek who she is anymore”, etc. Shortly after the release of the interview Minaj began to lose supporters at alarming rates. Things have gone as far as a petition to deport Nicki back to Trinidad, with over 40 thousand verified signatures in agreement with the overview written by change.org.
