Nicki Minaj Has A Warning For Lyor Cohen And YouTube

BYGabriel Bras Nevares715 Views
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2015 Billboard Music Awards - Show
LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 17: Recording artist Nicki Minaj performs onstage during the 2015 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 17, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Nicki believes the multi-company music executive is part of a scheme within the media and the Internet to sabotage her work.

Nicki Minaj's "Big Foot," the infamous Megan Thee Stallion diss, is doing pretty well commercially... but not as well as the Queen demands. Moreover, she recently hosted a Twitter Spaces conversation with Joe Budden on Wednesday (January 31), during which she made some very wide-ranging claims. One of these was the Trinidadian superstar's belief that the Houston MC wanted "a Rihanna moment" with her testimony about the Tory Lanez trial. In other words, Megan wanted undue sympathy for abuse, she posited, which stirred up a lot of controversy from fans and detractors alike. Regardless, Nicki thinks much of this negative reception is false.

Furthermore, among many other industry big-shots, she took aim at Lyor Cohen, a music executive who has been YouTube's Global Head of Music since 2016. Specifically, Nicki Minaj accused him of allowing or implementing bots on her content to sabotage the success of "Big Foot" or paint it in a bad light, perhaps through negative comments or other metrics. "We have screenshots of the YouTube bots, it’s cr*zy," she remarked during the Spaces conversation. "Lyor, you better not… Lyor, don’t play with me, n***a. I hope you ain’t around that company no more right now."

Nicki Minaj's Full Twitter Spaces Convo With Joe Budden: Listen

The First Lady of Young Money didn't stop there, as she also made similar claims against Twitter and TikTok about how fake backlash and criticism is being amplified as a sabotaging method. While she didn't provide any direct evidence of this, it's become a common narrative across her recent rants, particularly directed against Megan Thee Stallion. This is nothing new for Nicki Minaj or her Barbz to reckon with, and part of why it's a prevailing sentiment is because she finds so much overwhelming support from her fanbase that everything else seems moot. But don't get it twisted: she's still the biggest female rapper right now, and one of the biggest of all time.

As such, perhaps these complaints will quickly meet folks' disapproval or ridicule. Still, as "HISS" builds up momentum for a No. 1 debut on Billboard, its response track "Big Foot" reportedly falls behind. But is that due to "bots" or people's own reaction to the track's quality and impact? Unfortunately for us, perhaps we'll never really know... With that in mind, check back in with HNHH for the latest news and updates on Nicki Minaj.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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