Nicki Minaj, rapper and proud girl power leader, left social media in a bind on Monday (July 3) when her statement about her fans left many to believe she whitewashed the popular tag, “Black Girls Are Magic/Black Girl Magic.”
Birthed by CaShawn Thompson in 2013, the phrase later caught on in 2015, making it the a personal mantra for African-American girls and women who are often misrepresented in popular culture to be shine with no apologies. It’s since helped form other terms like “Black Boy Joy”, which highlights the same for African-American men and boys.
This all leads us to a series of tweets by Nicki Minaj that drew criticism on Twitter. While showing love to her diverse fan base, the entertainer tweeted, “All girls [are] magic. Don’t [you] ever forget that my darlings. Straight, gay, Jewish, Muslim, Asian, Black, White [Hispanic], etc.”
I ? all my fans the same. All girlsRmagic. Don't ever 4get that my darlings. Str8. Gay. Jewish. Muslim. Asian. Black. White. Spanish, etc ?
— BEAM ME UP SCOTTY MIXTAPE OUT NOW‼️??♥️ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 3, 2017
As fans continued their liking sprees, others took it as a way of undercutting the Black Girl Magic movement. Since there’s always two sides to a story, fans came to Nicki’s defense while pointing out the many times she’s spoken out on the double standards of women in the entertainment industry and how women of color are often stereotyped.
Nicki Minaj tried to "all lives matter", Black girls are magic pic.twitter.com/S4DEypOgoz
— a princess diana stan account (@seabethree) July 4, 2017
kinda wish she didnt use "magic" when its specifically been a tag to uplift blk women. BW have a diff struggle…
— GoldenB (@_GoldenB_) July 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/crazybarbdotcom/status/882208498104315904
It's cocoa butter, natural hair & Black Girl Magic until its about Nicki Minaj pic.twitter.com/8nqF1qyC4q
— wanda maximoff stan account (@caliboycomplex) June 28, 2017
Regardless of this situation/me being a fan, pretty sure people have been saying girls are magic pre dating their #blakgirlsaremagic tag
— Nicki the Boss (@VotingForNickiM) July 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/TeamNMsupport/status/882280820509032448
In an interview with Marie Claire in 2016, the rapper spoke out about the reactions to her viral video for “Anaconda” and how sex appeal with white entertainers is accepted better than black entertainers. “When Kim Kardashian’s naked picture came out, [Sharon Osbourne] praised it, and my fans attacked her for being such a hypocrite,” she said. “So it wasn’t trashy and raunchy when a white woman did it, but it was when a black woman did it? It’s quite pathetic and sad, but that is my reality, and I’ve gotten accustomed to just shutting it down.”
She also questioned black mortality and effects of police brutality on the widows and children that are left behind. “We tend to not remember the black women who are mourning these men and who are thinking, ‘Oh, my God, what am I going to tell my child now about where his father is?’ And the struggle it is for black women to then move on after they lose their husband or their boyfriend,” she added. “The strong women in these inner cities often go unnoticed … No one really ever puts a hand out to them.”
Nicki hasn’t spoken on the matter, but she did pin the tweet as a love letter to her hive.