It's the fortnightly Nicki Minaj rant!

I've decided to do a fortnightly rant on Nicki Minaj. When I run out of Nicki Minaj videos, I'm sure I'll find somebody else detrimental to females, but for now, she is the Queen of Detriment for females everywhere. Seeing as I'm in a bad mood, I'm just going to skip the taunting and go straight for the throat.


This time we'll be looking at Starships.



Let's look at the close ups first.

"Oh look at how weird and quirky I am, I have different colour hair in every close up!" In these close-ups, she tries to highlight the fact that she looks different in each of them, to get us to think she's 'weird' or 'random'. No, Nicki Minaj. Clearly what happened is you were blonde but you went swimming and chlorine turned it green. Don't try to style it out. Ever since Gaga turned 'weird' into mainstream, everyone has been dyeing their hair ridiculous colours and it doesn't make you any more popular.

Goodwin's theory says that the lyrics should fit the visuals in a music video. Shall we see how Nicki does this?

One shot of some spaceships, which she calls starships. I don't know why.

There's no real link between music and visuals, except that they all "dance" to it. 

It fits the conventions of the genre, what with all the gyrating and club dancing etc.etc.

Numerous close ups because she's so "pretty".

There is some intertextuality:

I think Ursula Andress does it better, Nicki.

The whole basis of this video is that some 'starships' come and drop her off and then she goes around and dances on some sand and with some men. Way to go on the narrative there, Nicki. Also, once again, well done on the empowering women thing.

I really feel these wide shots show Nicki Minaj as a great figure in the feminist movement. I mean, look at them. Rolling around in sand wearing nothing but a tiny pink bikini? Clearly not pandering to the male gaze here, at all. I think the fact that the bikini is pink here annoys me the most. Pink traditionally signifies girls or female or women, and so to have her wearing the pink bikini signifies to me that she's just a dainty little female who isn't worth anything more than rolling around in sand and dancing on a van or whatever it is she's dancing on.

"Oh I'm just a little girl who wears nothing but a pink bikini and dance around because that's what girls do hehehehe" I hope you burn.

There are also many shots of random people who have nothing to do with the video.

Nice long shot of irrelevant men dancing. Is this how people danced before you came and showed them the error of their ways, Nicki? Now everyone dances like this:

YOUR MOTHER MUST BE SO PROUD.

I've taken a pause from hip hop music video browsing to rant about one in particular.


This is a monstrosity of a video by that monstrosity of a woman, Nicki Minaj. This music video angers me for so many reasons, but I'll keep it relevant. Nicki Minaj thinks she's 'different' because she wears different coloured hair and wears weird outfits (much like Lady Gaga...), yet her video and songs are just like every other hip hop music video out there.
Let's use Goodwin's theory to look at this:
1) Dancing women? Check. Cars? Check. Money? Check. Dance routine? Check. Low angled shots giving you "power" over the audience? Check.

"Oooh, I'm so different and fresh in the hip hop world because it's pink! And I'm female!"

2) She manages to get a plane up when she says 'plane'. Well done, Nicki, well done.
3) She dances in time to the music? And it's edited so that some of the dancing fits the beat.
4) Lots and lots and lots of close ups on her face, especially of her eyes doing that weird blinking thing because she's so "weird" and "random". And lots of midshots to show her face and torso, so that you can see that she's wearing her bra basically over her top instead of under it.

My exact expression whilst watching this video. Also, I hope she realises she's a bit on display...

5) The dancing women wearing basically nothing? Check. Nicki Minaj wearing her top so low down it may as well not be there? Check. Oh, but you're a female artist so wearing practically nothing and gyrating against anything with a pulse is empowering and celebrating female sexuality? No. It means you are just a pawn to the music industry, being used how they like to sell records and making you appeal to a male audience. You are not empowering to women with lyrics like 'you're like slicker than the guy with the thing on his eye' and 'boom ba da boom boom ba da boom bass got that super bass'. Think you're in control, Nicki? No, sit down.

                                          Emmeline Pankhurst is rolling in her grave...
6) Alright, Minaj, I'll give you that one. I can't find any intertextual references...