… And the talk of rapper Nicki Minaj being the next Lady Gaga continues on its nauseating roll through the 2010 VMAs. It’s time to shut that noise down.
After the Young Money maven’s Video Music Awards pre-show performance of “Check It Out,” Nicki’s choreographer, Laurie Ann Gibson, blabbered some foul-smelling B.S. before MTV News.
“What I love about Nicki is she has the eye of the tiger and she is fearless,” said Gibson, who appeared on the hit reality show “Making the Band.” “These are the components that I saw about three years ago in Lady Gaga. I thought, ‘This is going to be fantastic.’ Her swag is amazing.”
Minaj, 25, ripped it at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles last night with her avant garde outfit and innovative performance. She squeezed her voluptuous, round form into a tight pink and purple spacesuit, with a large coiffed pink wig. Her choreographer explained the 25-year-old’s entertaining robotic dance moves, saying, “The idea is that we’re Barbies landing from outer space. It’s doll-like. It’s amazing.”
That hardly makes Nicki goo goo for Gaga. First of all, I don’t see Minaj ever wearing the shredded raw meat that headcase Gaga had on at the VMAs that must of peeved PETA something fierce — not to mention that Minaj already has enough chunks of meat packed on her person to begin with.
Yes, both obviosly get their rocks off from the shock factor that comes from being enswathed in kinky and kooky outfits. They both sport traffic-stopping hairdos and wigs half the time. But that’s where the similarities end. Minaj has sculpted a readily identifiable and dynamic persona. Plus Minaj is mainly a rapper at an urban label (Cash Money) while Gaga is a singer and the current darling of the pop world.
Minaj’s loony personality accentuates the rhymes that she rips off with machine-gun rapidity and fluidity. Moreover, Minaj cites as influences the likes of Lil Kim, Foxy Brown and Lauryn Hill, none of whom are from Gaga’s genre of music. Moreover, Nicki’s bold sensuality — some say soft pornography — punctuates many of her songs and has endeared her to fans. Signing her female disciples’ breasts, and even a buttock or two, have become a staple of her stage performances worldwide.
Do they both “lean a little past twelve”? Yes. But is Nicki a Gaga clone? Never. Nicki Minaj is much better than that.
–terry shropshire
