Minaj Goes Tribal In Must-See ‘V’ Shoot

Published: Wednesday 12th Jan 2011 by Sam

As earlier reported, Hip-Pop phenom Nicki Minaj features in the latest issue of V Magazine. However, it’s only today that the star’s spread in the publication surfaced – and what a spread it is.

Made up to resemble what can only be described as a modern take on African tribalism, Minaj’s shoot is eye-catching at the very least.

That said, what you do think of the shoot: ‘fashion’ or fool?

{Thanks Seye!}

Randomness: Notice how Nicki features in risque men’s magazine KING, while in the same month appears in upscale V too. An unfathomable feat, and one which serves as a testament to how in-demand she is. If ever there was any doubt as to whether Ms. Minaj has truly ‘arrived’, there remains none now. More power to her.

Your thoughts?

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  1. ummm January 12, 2011

    Sorry, she looks stupid lol

  2. @NateDiddie January 12, 2011

    #DOPENESS, Yo That Grape Juice Stay Bring The Heat when it comes to what we the people wanna see n know. Keep up the good work… #YouBeKillinEm

  3. Royalkev January 12, 2011

    i like the body paint, but I don’t need it to be all over her face!

  4. WorldWideWaddie.com January 12, 2011

    #FAIL she looks like a DUMB FOOL trying to impress Rihanna, Katy Perry and Kesha. Poor thang!

  5. Basic Instinct January 12, 2011

    whats new tho.. whenever ur the hottest thing of the moment of course your going to be milked.. she looks stupid .. she is not rihanna.. she canot pull of high fashion she looks like a damn fool but whats new. its nicki garbage..

  6. Fio January 12, 2011

    love it! <3 nicki

  7. lol January 12, 2011

    she looks stupid

  8. Mari January 12, 2011

    I actually find it quite racist. How often does V do spreads featuring black models, and the one of the few times that they do have a black cover star and editorial, they feature her reinacting some tribal, witch doctor trope? might as well have just put her in animal prints

  9. Ethan January 12, 2011

    don’t talk about nicki trying to impress rihanna, cuz nicki is doing amazing and actually better in the US right now. she’s f***** hot and i love her! go nicki

  10. GangsterA January 12, 2011

    she looks hot very fierce *knock konck* who is it *queen barbie b*****

  11. gfhfgh January 12, 2011

    😛 😛 😛 I love this , i lov e my b oyfriend, he is a nice guy !.

    i met him via —– Bla c k’w h it e’F li rts. C” 0- M—-

    The most successful interra cial da t ing c lub. If you are still waiting for your sweet “milk” or “chocolate”, don’t hesitate to check it !! Don’t let your babies wait too long for you !!

  12. CRBB January 12, 2011

    SIKKKK!!

  13. stan January 12, 2011

    eh.. kinda lacks some oomph, imo

  14. 123456 January 12, 2011

    lol@ being on KING meaing u have arrived hahahaha #OnceAgainStupid

  15. Gilberto January 12, 2011

    I really don’t get this girl. She’s so overrated. I can’t wait to see her flopping and doing Dancing With The Stars .

  16. ILL NANA January 12, 2011

    I LUV IT!!! A HATER AINT NOTHIN BUT A UNDERCOVER FAN, NO FOOLIN ME.. GO NIKKI !!!!

  17. little kimberly DAMNIT January 12, 2011

    They shoulda Jus gave her clown makeup. She’s a clown. The green garment is cute but she looks foolish and yuck, those tired ass bangs Smh. B**** go get a stylist.

  18. gabs January 12, 2011

    Im really surprised V had her as a covergirl. Your right it does mean shes made it. The usually have like, Angelina Jolie or Gwyneth paltrow, those type of fashion icon people. Congrats to nicki. I dont really like the shoot though. It does seem odd that one of the few times they get a black girl they have to make her all tribal but then again nicki likes to do that crap

  19. NE-YO*STAN January 12, 2011

    A disgrace to African heritage, is what that is. Oh, y’all thought I was gonna give her a pass because she’s black? No, sir.

  20. Blue Kid January 12, 2011

    The black & white on her face and the red lip stick makes her look like a c***, I mean fool.
    Her camp must hate her.

  21. Tee.Smith January 12, 2011

    Man I Love Nicki Minaj ! Shess Soo Creativee ; ! #Keep It Up Icon!

  22. Tee.Smith January 12, 2011

    Duddee yu People On Here Are So Unreall ;; Witchha Cruciall Asses ! Yu Are Jealous becausee Ppl Likee Her && not Yourr Underqradinqq Behindd; Speak Up Now , Or Fahevahh hold ya S***** Peace .!

  23. Anonymous January 12, 2011

    I am Cameroonian and when ever i see a traditional tribal dance, people dont have white and black paint all over there face! They will have symetrical maeks instead! Vanity, is stupid, alwys gotta make Black people look like flippin’ monkeys!! But its crazy and wierd so it fits Niki’s persona!! It Barbie B****!! Go liten to Pink Friday h**!! Haters f*** off

  24. trucie b January 12, 2011

    Yes sir. Miss Minaj has arrived. Haters can just eat it. LOL!

  25. shabang January 12, 2011

    look at beetle juice doing funny faces

  26. TTSUP3R January 12, 2011

    The haterz just can’t get enough of Ms. Minaj.
    IT’S BARBIE B****!!

  27. Basic Instinct January 12, 2011

    she truly is a clown so the make up fits the b**** perfectly

  28. Dunster January 12, 2011

    I liked the other cover (although i wish she’d get rid of those darn wigs) But the other shots look…
    the dress looks way two small and on this occasion those b****** are too much. I think the magazine didn’t do much to show her in a different light.

  29. HAHA SLOW DOWN January 12, 2011

    why did she let them do this to her….she looks like a f****** voodoo doll….LOL!

  30. ~aMaZiNG.Lee~ January 12, 2011

    She looks hot, but she could do without the face paint. It’s too much.

  31. remmy January 12, 2011

    I agree with RoyalKev…the last pic would have benn nice minus the face paint(one face painted pic in black and white would have been enough)

    Something new so I dig it…

  32. Kenny January 12, 2011

    I agree that she looks foolish, too many chicks are trying to hard to be “different” and its coming of gimmicky! Nicki will not last long, right now is her time but I dont think she will be around for a long time.

  33. Chile Please! January 12, 2011

    I’m scared!!! WTF is this??? I’m sorry but there’s nothing cut about this expecially the face paint that s*** looks horrid!

  34. mindgames January 12, 2011

    somewhere Lil Kim is rolling her eyes right now

    and so am i

  35. NE-YO*STAN January 12, 2011

    Y’all would STILL be stanning if Nicki Minaj came out with a song with tongue clicks and AHH-OOO-GAH UGH UGH sounds. It’s funny how people (Nicki included) want to be accurate when it comes to emulating Asian culture (note the tattoo), but in portraying African culture one must take a wild s*** in the dark. All this does is maintain the notion that Africans are backwards or “tribal” people, and make African Americans look like fools for not knowing their ancestral culture.

    Anyone who has the nerve to sit at their computer and applaud this disaster of a photoshoot doesn’t have sense. I’m not hating. I just believe that this shoot was in bad taste. Like Blue Kid said, that mass of lipstick around her mouth makes her look like a Sambo Pickaninny C***. And, do we really need that in 2011?

    Shout out to Mari, for the TRUTH.

  36. mindgames January 12, 2011

    btw, if Gaga did this everyone would praise her and call her a f****** visionary and unique. f****** race double standard i swear 😐

  37. huh?! what? January 12, 2011

    i may be wrong but i dont think this was done to represent african culture.
    It looks more like the mexican day of the dead tradition

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00226/Day_of_the_Dead_Mex_226428a.jpg

    http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/40/100840-004-7939C6A6.jpg

    its funny how people are so quick to judge while not knowing the meaning behind actions etc
    and are so quick to turn things into a racial issue, i.e white folkes finally embrace a black girl and have her looking like a fool, or how black people dont love themselves because of embracing other cultures blah blah bs, oh and if its the other way around a white person embracing black culture, they’re trying to copy black ppl and are fake or jumping on a bandwagon or some s***
    its not that serious, sometimes things are just as they appear, no ulterior motives, no subliminal messages about racial superiority and s***
    its music, fashion, entertainment and life
    enjoy it or find something else to enjoy

    nicki looks good, the pics are cool, my favourite is ‘nicki m’ fits the spirit of what i figured the shoot was supposed to be about

  38. Blue Kid January 12, 2011

    huh?! what?

    I agree with you, the puppet is trying to tell us something maybe?????

  39. Lolita January 12, 2011

    I like Nicki, but I’m not feeling the shots with her face painted. I like the other shots with just her body painted. She is doing big things good for her. Despite what other people may feel, I think she will be around for a while.

  40. FUTURESTARdelux January 12, 2011

    About as original as her album, and is she inflating her tits as well as her ass now? #FAIL

  41. Brea January 12, 2011

    Don’t like the face paint, but that’s my nicki!!!

  42. lala January 12, 2011

    Im reminded of blackface by this ? Also with her Bottom Implants and the way it is fetished she really reminds me of the story of saartje Baartman (yeah google it) The hottentot Venus.
    Anyways I love Nicki Minaj style but these pictures here just leaves a bad taste in my mouth

  43. NE-YO*STAN January 12, 2011

    Day of the Dead my ass… did you even look at those pictures? They all got skeletons face painted on their lips. NICKI has excessive amounts of bright lipstick.

    If I jumped to conclusions, then so the hell did you! At least mine makes more sense. Dia de los Muertos… LOL

  44. KaVion January 12, 2011

    @GILBERTO
    KIMS THE ONE DOING DANCING W/ THE STARS SO PLEASE STOP WIT THAT NONSENSE

    @FUTURE DELUSIONAL BRITNEY STAN
    Her tits have ALWAYS been huge..last time i checked theres a thing called pushup bras..stay addicted to hating, im sure britney would be DISGUSTED with you.

  45. lola January 13, 2011

    Now I love me some Nicki Minaj, without all the costumes and goofy faces, she’s really talented, but wtf is this s***? Is she f****** serious? Her “Pink Friday” promo shots were more high fashion and cuter than these. SHE LOOKS LIKE A DAMN FOOL! Like… this is so humiliating. The shots with the paint on her face don’t even look like her! I would have never known it was her if no one had said it was. This is the ugliest I’ve seen her and she looks like a damn racist clown! I am very disappointed in her… why would she go through with this? It’s funny because I find these more disturbing than her KING magazine shots, which weren’t bad, because her face just looks like a damn racist cartoon character! You don’t see Rihanna’s Caribbean ass doing shots like these. She needs to think thoroughly sometimes. With that said, she is in V magazine, a high fashion magazine! To be honest, Elle, Vogue, Vanity Fair, and other high fashion magazines lost all creditability with me when they had bubblegum music artists such as Rihanna, Beyonce, and even “Precious” on the cover, and featured a bunch of actresses instead of real high fashion models, but still… this female has a strong ass management and publicist team, especially being a hip-hop rapper!

  46. True Blue January 13, 2011

    She looks like she belongs in the Love Lockdown video. But if she was gonna do a tribal theme… then what’s up with the clearly NON-TRIBAL clothes? This is not a mix & match that works.

    And LOL @ Gilberto, he’s brutally blunt but on point.

  47. Basic Instinct January 13, 2011

    Nicki dissed kim in her music ,magazine articles and interviews calling kim a : has been,old b****,time machine b**** ,montone and constantly boasting in songs that she ” TOOK THE SPOT”
    Nicki has swagger jacked lil kim by : claiming she is a barbie, rocking coloured wigs,sexi outfits and classic kim poses.
    Nicki has made songs about kim : Did it on em, Romans Revenge, I Aint Thru….
    Nicki has tried to replace kim by : working with lil kims old team.
    Nicki has tried to recreate lil kim into her by : using rick ross to be the new biggie, hanging with puffy and befriending Maino.
    IN CONCLUSION nicki minaj has gotten so many people to turn against lil kim and try to destroy kims legacy in the hopes of replacing her. most of kims friends have betrayed her for a new chick. and u b****** wna sai kims bitter. kim kill that bich.. how dare she

  48. FUTURESTARdelux January 13, 2011

    @Kavian Don’t talk to me about anything when you stan for the biggest Thief in the music industry. #StayMad

  49. Mari January 13, 2011

    “Day of the Dead my ass… did you even look at those pictures? They all got skeletons face painted on their lips. NICKI has excessive amounts of bright lipstick.”

    @ Neyo-Stan

    but but but . . . it’s Pink Friday that’s why the stylist put her in bright pink lipstick LMFAO
    co-sign both of your comments

    @Huh What’s up

    It is racial and it is serious. Black models and female celebs are grossly underrepresented in the mainstream media, and when they are included, it’s often in an exoticised, primitive manner. That’s why this s*** is super egregious! If you want an example of an awesome, surreal high concept nicki shoot, look at her pics from her spread in Out magazine.

    http://wwww.fanpop.com/spots/nicki-minaj/images/15518009/title/nicki-out-magazine-october-2010-photo

    no racism, no cultural appropriation, just creativity and great shots.

  50. huh?! what? January 13, 2011

    *and i always thought it was common in photoshoots for the photographer and models to depict fantasy, or a hybrid of fantasy and reality. Not everything in art is directly related to reality.

  51. IsShe4Real? January 13, 2011

    She looks like a Dumb Stupid Step-n-Fetchet a*ss Fool. SMH If this what this generations calls art and greatness may God help us all.

  52. KaVion January 14, 2011

    LMAO @FUTURESTARDELUX

    & your a stan for the most overrated star in the music industryy..
    Now i like britney really dont diss any artists..but dont call bey a thief when your stanning for someone like britney..
    & doesn’t britney have some legal issues happening involving hold it against me?
    I wouldnt be calling ANYONE a thief

  53. huh?! what? January 14, 2011

    wtf i posted three times last night, cuz the first two weren’t approved or deleted or w/e and the last one still didnt show up? why is it that if you post more than two lines it has to be so ridiculous? smh

  54. Cheers (Drink to That) January 15, 2011

    WOW, I love Nicki…. but she looks a STRAIGHT FOOL!!!!!!!!!

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