Earlier this morning, Funkmaster Flex shocked fans when he openly vowed to ‘tear Nicki Minaj’ down for not performing at Summerjam 2012, the event organized by his radio station Hot 97.
Now, in her defense, fellow Rap queen has released a statement weighing in on the situation, supporting her decision to walk away from what many saw as a dangerous situation.
Her words below…
No disrespect to Nicki, but I need to clear up an inaccuracy.
I was not scheduled to be a special guest on her set at Summer Jam, I was invited by Nas to perform with him.
I don’t have details on exactly what transpired between the station and the artists, but I do support artists standing by their beliefs, and walking with integrity. We have to find a better way to commercially exploit music, while giving artists their proper respect.
This cannot be done while taking their contributions for granted, or trying to control the scope of their growth and power through threats and fear tactics. We can do better than this, there is a better way, or else ‘we’ (the proverbial we) find ourselves in danger of being hypocrites!!!
Ms. Lauryn Hill
In response to claims Minaj had ‘sold out’ for releasing dance music, Lauryn’s comments come before DJ Flex revealed the MC is to join him on his 7pm (EST) show this evening to discuss what went down.
Surprising, as his scathing remarks on her latest LP led many to believe their ‘friendship’ had been completely severed.
Our two cents:
Some won’t like this, but in keeping it 100 we’ll say this:
Like most characters in black music, Flex likes his acts high enough to brag about being near the top, but low enough to be dragged to the bottom when they -by his estimation- ‘sell out’.
Thus, it’s no surprise he showed his true colors once he didn’t get his way with Nicki yesterday- all but calling her a ‘flop’ when she refused to take to the stage.
Funny thing is though, he wasn’t calling her a ‘flop’ when she sat down with him back in April to promote ‘Roman Reloaded‘ or when Hot 97 deemed her powerful enough to headline their so called event. An event, which was depending on Minaj’s appearance to shift tickets.
We wonder if he and Peter Rosenberg would be as quick to slam her if say…she was a man, or was content with remaining a ‘hood star’ for the duration of her career, catering to an audience who fail at supporting the acts they themselves claim to approve of.
Keep it locked on That Grape Juice for his interview with Nicki when it airs live tonight.