Nicki Minaj Responds To Super Bowl Halftime Show Producer's Claim That Jay-Z Picks The Artist

BYGabriel Bras Nevares6.4K Views
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Nicki can't believe it...

Nicki Minaj has arguably been Lil Wayne's strongest defender amid the Kendrick Lamar Super Bowl halftime show controversy. She blasted Jay-Z for the supposedly hate-fueled decision to not appoint Lil Wayne for the New Orleans stage next year. All of these details and many more are still unclear. But we got a new claim to add to these contradictions. Jesse Collins, a producer for the spectacle since 2021, recently claimed that Hov is the one who has final say in what artists perform, and that the show is largely of his own design.

"It’s a decision that Jay makes," Jesse Collins said of the Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Kendrick Lamar controversy. "Since we’ve been on board with that show, he’s made it every year, and it’s been amazing. He’s always picked right!" Nicki Minaj reacted to this by replying to a report on the matter with a laughing emoji on Twitter. Even though we don't know what she's exactly laughing at here, we can make a pretty obvious assumption that she still blames him at least partially for what went down.

Nicki Minaj Laughs At Jay-Z Allegedly Picking Super Bowl Halftime Show Performers

Also, Nicki Minaj's disdain for Jay-Z extends to other business dealings, primarily how she allegedly never saw a dime for partnering with his TIDAL streaming service. This is all a bit tragic but also unsurprising to see given the very complicated relationship between Young Money and the Roc, which extends to the rest of the rap world. Regardless of where you fall on that Super Bowl debate, seeing the late 2000s and early 2010s implode among itself in 2024 has been one of the most significant rap moments of the year.

"This too, shall pass," Nicki Minaj penned to Lil Wayne. "But what you have done for the hip-hop culture will remain. It will stand the TEST of time. Many times our greatest & most dehumanizing test is just a way for God to get the glory. You were simply used in a war of egos. To ppl who are empty inside, all they have is their temporary power." We'll see how this ends...

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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