Nicki Minaj recently asserted that she and her fanbase, the Barbz, were the first to introduce stan culture to hip-hop, noting that “no rappers were naming their fans” before she did. The rapper shared her thoughts on the impact of her loyal Barbz on pop culture while speaking at Vogue’s Forces of Fashion event in her hometown of New York City earlier this month.
She said that even before she had a record deal, her fans were already creating a presence for themselves on Twitter, and she had already given them a name. She added that at that time, only two others — Justin Bieber with Beliebers and Lady Gaga with Monsters were doing the same.
Nicki Minaj said that now, every artist gives their fanbase a name, even artists from other countries. Some of the African artists she admires have named their fanbases, and she was like, “Wow!” She admitted that she never expected this trend to catch on within the hip-hop community but it doesn’t matter because the Barbz are still superior.
In February, she reflected on her fanbase’s fierce loyalty, cautioning others not to provoke her, as the Barbz are relentless and always respond.
Image Courtesy: Billboard
Her fans have been known to defend the singer by targeting rappers who have publicly clashed with her. In August, they took to X/Twitter to criticize Latto for naming Lil Kim as the greatest female rapper in an interview. They also accused Cardi B of imitating Minaj in her ‘Enough (Miami)’ music video, claiming that Cardi drew inspiration from Minaj’s winter look from last year.
At times, Minaj even debates and corrects her own fans. Earlier this month, when one of her fan pages inaccurately reported that she planned to take a hiatus, Minaj quickly shut down the rumour, telling her fans, “I ain’t going no-mthfkn-where.”
Minaj also celebrated her recent ‘Pink Friday 2 World Tour,’ which wrapped up earlier this month and has become the highest-grossing tour by a female rapper, as well as the fourth highest-grossing rap tour overall.
Image Courtesy: Rap-Up
Last month, Minaj revealed that she’s working on the third installment of her Pink Friday album series, though there’s no release date yet for Pink Friday 3. Initially, she had planned to release another deluxe edition of Pink Friday 2, scheduled for September 13, but decided to shift focus to Pink Friday 3 instead.
In other news, Nicki Minaj took home the Hip-Hop Album of the Year award at this year’s BET Hip-Hop Awards, winning over Travis Scott’s Utopia, Drake’s For All the Dogs Scary Hours Edition, Megan Thee Stallion’s Megan, among others.
–Silviya.Y