Entertainment

Nicki Minaj Calls Out MTV For Snubbing "Anaconda"

by Daniela Cabrera

On Tuesday, July 21, the 2015 VMA nominations were announced, and in the least shocking twist in awards show history, Taylor Swift leads the nominations with nine noms. But another artist isn't feeling quite as joyous as Swift right now. Although she pulled in a decent amount of nominations for her collaborations, Nicki Minaj is not happy that the VMAs snubbed "Anaconda" in the Video of the Year category, and she is letting her followers on Twitter know exactly how she feels about it. And, lest we forget, her already iconic and highly GIF-able video for "Feelin' Myself" with Beyoncé wasn't even acknowledged once. I mean, that is just plain rude.

Before I get to the reasons why "Anaconda" should have been nominated for Video of the Year, let me count the ways that Nicki Minaj stilled killed it this year with her other songs and videos. Minaj was nominated along with Ariana Grande and Jessie J for "Bang Bang" in the Best Collaboration category, and for Best Hip Hop Video and Best Female Performance for "Anaconda." Not so bad, right? Even with these nominations, I don't blame Minaj for wanting to get the recognition she feels she deserves for "Anaconda," because the video certainly did become a cultural phenomenon when it was released.

On Twitter, first Minaj thanked MTV for the nominations she did receive, but it wasn't long before the fan tweets started pouring in demanding justice for both "Feelin' Myself" and "Anaconda." Fans brought up valid support for the video, pointing out the fact that "Anaconda" broke Vevo records, getting over 19.6 million views within the first 24 hours of its release! It beat out Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball," video so, yeah, people really, really loved it.

Along with retweeting a lot of her fans, Minaj noted herself that if she was a different "kind" of artist the outcome would have been different. The rapper didn't clarify what she meant or which "other girls" she means, and it may be for the best that she decided not to pinpoint which other artists she's comparing herself to — no need to put them down when, as she seems to see it, the blame is placed on MTV. The 32-year-old then went on to expand on the cultural impact "Anaconda" had:

Minaj has every right to speak out, but she definitely still has a lot to celebrate. I don't think a lack of an MTV nomination will really impact anything about the lasting ~legacy~ of "Anaconda," because we will always have the memes. And those, we can never forget.

Images: Getty Images