Is Hip-Hop Too One-Dimensional For Nicki Minaj?

Femcee may have become the victim of her own success

The views expressed in this Op-Ed do not reflect that of the Loop 21.

This past week, the blogosphere went into a furor over Nicki Minaj’s choice to suspend her Twitter account, leaving her 11 million followers in a state of puzzlement. The multi-platinum femcee attributed the decision to a “voice” in her head that ultimately told her to do it after she got into a Twitter war with fans over her leaked music.

But within just a few days the plot thickened when Minaj spoke to U.K. radio host Tim Westwood. After giving a unabashed “no” when asked if she would return to Twitter, Nicki said she was contemplating leaving the music industry altogether.

“People not even givin’ the kid props for takin’ it back to that essence,” she said. “The kid did like that to feed her fans, but now the kid thinking she should leave the game.”

While it is clear that Nicki’s true frustration with her fans is shrouded in her unfavorable first week sales of her second album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded” (about 100,000 fewer copies than her debut album) and its rather negative reviews, a larger inquiry is raised: Are Nicki’s latest antics a sign that she has grown tired of her rejection from the urban community?

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In the early days, Minaj was known as the female Lil’ Wayne, offering her charismatic bars on dozens of tracks like Diddy Dirty Money’s “Hello Good Morning (Remix)” and Kanye West’s “Monster.” Minaj was praised for her unique ability to fuse appealing lyrical content with a playfully animated style of verse.

Since the explosive success of her single, “Super Bass,” Minaj’s already impressive career took new heights, enjoying the perks of a new fan base and the status as a bona fide pop star. Suddenly little British girls were singing the hit song on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Minaj was photographed beside fashion icon Anna Wintour during New York Fashion Week.

But it seems as though Nicki’s larger-than-life career came at the expense of her street cred in the hip-hop realm, with many questioning the validity of her status as a rapper. The ultimate argument: Nicki just isn’t hip-hop enough.