Nicki Minaj calls on fashion magazines to celebrate white artists, such as Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga, for dying their hair bright colors when asked to ‘not wear pink hair’

• In a “Joe Budden Podcast” interview, Nicki Minaj discussed feeling left out fashion magazines.
• She said she was asked to remove her pink hair for the covers, while other celebrities weren’t.

In a podcast episode released Wednesday, Nicki Minaj sat down with rapper and media personality Joe Budden for a follow-up to their explosive pair of conversations from 2019. During their final chat for “The Joe Budden Podcast,” Minaj spoke of her experience of feeling left out of the fashion industry as a black rapper.

“Everybody knew me for wearing pink wigs,” she told Budden during the chat, at about 54 minutes.

“You’d think the greatest female rapper of all time, who started so many trends, would have graced the cover of American voguebut she didn’t,” she said, referring to herself.

Minaj specifically called on fashion magazines to celebrate white artists, such as Billie Eilish, for setting fashion trends like colored hair, which Minaj has been known to do for years. She said Eilish was “immediately put on American Vogue” with her green hair.

Minaj said she was asked not to wear her signature pink hair on magazine covers and was instead presented as a “stripped down” version of her colorful persona.

“They always asked me not to wear pink hair. But I saw Katy Perry on the cover with pink hair, and I saw Lady Gaga on the cover with pink hair. I came into the game with pink hair” , she said. .

Minaj doesn’t blame Eilish or Vogue editor Anna Wintour for the difference in how she says she’s treated by fashion magazines

Minaj didn’t blame Eilish during the chat for receiving her “shine” and said she’s a fan of the “Bad Guy” singer.

“They’re going to be like, ‘Yeah, she put that on the card,’ whether she put it on the card or not,” Minaj said of Eilish. “She’s successful. She’s beautiful. Everyone wears a certain hairstyle – I know I love her, and when she does those covers, they look gorgeous.”

She explained why she thought it was important to comment on the disparity. “The reason you have to mention it, y’all, is because when we don’t mention it, we get erased. They act like it didn’t happen,” she said. She and Budden went on to draw comparisons to black musicians who “died poor”, while others were given credit for the styles they pioneered.

“People need to be careful about what they do and how they represent black artists and black people,” she continued.

During the conversation, Minaj also pleaded for another edgy rapper. “The same way I feel like I should have been on the cover of American Vogue by now, Lil’ Kim should be doing the same – if we keep it all the way to 1,000,” she said. .

She said her problem wasn’t with American Vogue’s longtime editor, Anna Wintour, which drew criticism for the publication’s lack of diversity. “Every time I’ve met Anna Wintour, she’s been so kind to me,” Minaj said.

She clarified that her criticism was directed at those who were “at that table with” Wintour when she made creative choices.

“It’s your responsibility to wave the flag. You don’t just put it on another face and another person,” Minaj added.

Listen to Minaj’s full conversation with Budden below.

The Joe Budden Podcast “A Conversation with Nicki Minaj and Joe Budden”