The Betrayal of MAGA Minaj
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Nicki Minaj has branded herself by many monickers throughout her historic run as one of rap and pop music’s best blenders. Since the late aughts, the Trinidadian-born singer blasted to the top charts with earworms like “Starships” and “Superbass”. But it was more than Minaj’s great cadence and flow that won audiences over.
Nicki Minaj’s mind forged bombastic alter egos that challenged the constraints of gender. She strongly played into her rough-and-tough male persona named Roman Zolanski, tapping into the voice on several songs. Then came her Harajuku Barbie era, coated in bubble gum pink, her run as Nicki the Boss, that Chun Li moment, or when she channels her ultra feminine side performing as Onika.
Fans saw her range of identities as a creative explosion of self-expression, especially queer people experimenting with clothes/style themselves. This recognition by the LGBTQIA+ community lifted Nicki through good and bad albums, ‘Pink Prints’ old and new, genuinely trusting that the Queen of Rap would always have our back.
A resurfaced interview with MTV News circa 2009 had Minaj speaking directly to the mental health of gay fans. “I would encourage my young gay fans to be fighters. To be brave...”
She continued, “People face difficulties, no matter who you are. I faced difficulties with a lot of things. I face opposition every day, but I didn't kill myself, and now, thank God, I'm here. So I want my life to be a testimony to my fans and my gay fans.”
Her allyship and music were an interwoven invitation to embody whoever you wanted to be, to make space for yourself in a world stacked against you. As she forged a path through such a male-dominated industry, millions of underdogs found inspiration in the work she did.
It was empowering when that was true.
Nicki’s expansion on identity, unfortunately, seems to be a game only she’s allowed to play.
In December 2025, while proudly sharing the stage with controversial Turning Point USA leader Erika Kirk, Nicki Minaj officially staked her flag in conservative land. She decried effeminate men, pushing that "boys should be boys”, alluding to anti-trans talking points the GOP gushes over. Her proud embrace of the binary and bland disheartened fans all over the world, especially allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community who had considered her a safe space.
Minaj’s Madness Grows
Minaj’s recent red-pilling can be traced to her controversial marriage in 2019 to Kenneth Petty. Petty is a level two registered sex offender in New York and served seven years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in 2006. As the truth about her husband caught traction in the press, rumors began to circulate that Minaj’s team physically intimidated some of the young women impacted in the case. She randomly tweeted out about her cousin’s friend’s testicles having an insane reaction to the COVID vaccine. She became a bit of a laughing stock, no doubt encouraging her to double down on her conservative anti-vax path.
We know Minaj is capable of real harm. Her one-sided beef with Meghan Thee Stallion, her peer who was assaulted, has only earned cringe. Many felt Nicki broke rap’s glass ceiling for herself, only to rebuild it to prevent any up-and-coming stars who may threaten her stardom. Minaj’s crown as the undisputed Queen of Rap began slipping; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
“I have the most amazing respect and admiration for our president,” squeaked out Minaj at a Turning Point USA, holding hands alongside the conservative group’s new leader, Erika Kirk.
“Handsome… dashing…” were other adjectives Nicki Minaj used to describe President Donald J. Trump.
When Kirk asked Minaj about male role models for young men, the ass-kissing train continued forward at full throttle.
Minaj wined, “I don’t like making people feel badly about themselves in any way.”
Within the minute, Minaj shared her line about boys needing to be boys.
“There’s nothing wrong with being a boy,” implying that transness was the problem in a world of transphobes.
It's obvious to many that her embrace of Trump’s politics may be attributed to her seeking a pardon for the problematic men she chooses to keep in her life. This includes her brother and husband, who both have sorted pasts, and the former is a registered sex offender. As Donald Trump has commuted sentences for pop culture criminals like George Santos and the Chrisleys, could Minaj be trying to get in on the pity pardon parade?
Some fans think she’s just going for the grift. Sadly, it could be working. Music data sites are showing a massive increase in listenership for Minaj since her Turning Point USA appearance, “marking a 1081% increase from last month.”
In the ashes of her legacy, as this all burns down in front of our eyes, we can remember the times Nicki actually cared for the LGBTQIA+ community. We can champion new voices that affirm us, who won’t shed their beliefs for a Presidential pardon for their pedophilic partner.
Reflecting On What Was
There was once a time when Minaj's motormouth moved mountains on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Turn to her guest appearance on one of the queerest shows in television history, “Steven Universe,” where Minaj voiced a character created by the love between two women. The new character, Sugilite, was a brazen and reckless monster with no regard for the damage in her wake.
So is Mrs. Minaj returning to that role, now method acting?
It’s similar to a restaurant you loved growing up, but is now under new ownership. The menu has totally changed, your favorite dish doesn’t hit the same. The vibes are different. The handmade mural on the wall has been replaced by uncanny AI ‘art.’ Then, after paying a pricey check, you wonder if the place was even magical to begin with.
Can one truly separate the art from the artist, especially when they’re so connected? Play her music and see if it still brings you that joy, or if that’s evaporated too. Queer fans can erase her from their playlists and move forward without her. She seems to think she’ll be just fine without her.
Mourn the Nicki Minaj we once knew, along with Roman, Onika, and all the other freaks in her repertoire. I have a feeling they’re shoved back into her mental closet, and no place seems scarier than Minaj’s mind.