Nicki Minaj Boycotts Hot 97 Summer Jam 2012 Concert
It’s been said one monkey don’t stop no show, but a slighted Harajuku Barbie can certainly throw a wrinkle in the plans. Billed as the header for New York radio station Hot 97’s Summer Jam 2012 concert, Nicki Minaj backed out of her performance after radio host Peter Rosenberg dissed her song “Starship.”
While hosting a pre-show festival that featured performances by Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T. and A$AP Rocky, Rosenberg reportedly said the warm-up performances featured “real hip hop” and fans shouldn’t expect to hear any “Starships.” Clearly referring to Minaj’s pop-flavored hit, the comment was not well received by anyone in the Young Money camp. Lil Wayne promptly tweeted, “Young Money ain’t doing Summer Jam.”
Minaj soon followed suit with a string of tweets of her own. “Wow. U n----- just f----- up history. But the President has spoken,” the Queens MC wrote.
With some of her fans confused by the news circulating that she was not going to appear, Minaj set the record straight to those disappointed Barbies. “I go above and beyond for my fans. But won’t ever go against Wayne’s word. What he says, goes,” she explained in a tweet.
Adding insult to injury, hip hop’s leading lady teased fans with a series of tweets that showed what she had in store for them. Along with appearances by fellow YMCMB stars Birdman, Tyga and Weezy, concertgoers would have seen hip hop legends Nas, Lauryn Hill and Foxy Brown grace the stage with Nicki. With no such luck, fans also missed out on seeing Cam’ron and reggae stars Beenie Man and Spragga Benz.
Though the controversy did steal some of the thunder from the annual concert, fans still enjoyed performances from Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, J. Cole, Meek Mill and T.I. among others. Even Nas and Lauryn Hill performed despite Nicki’s absence.
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