UPDATE-Nicki Minaj was a force to be reckoned with at the 2011 American Music Awards. When the wig, cartoon/character rapper emerged on the scene many thought it was simply a rip off from former hip hop veterans most notable Lil Kim. No one thought the jig would last or least of all dominate the scene. And then came Nicki’s Pink Friday album dominating the charts in it’s debut selling 375,190 units in the first week, making it the 2nd highest debut for a female album in hip hop.
The formula was a winning formula, the alter egos Barbie, Romans Revenge and others weren’t going anywhere. With good reason, of course. And then something even bigger happened to further cement Nicki’s success. Country pop star Taylor Swift named Nicki’s ‘Super Bass’ as one of her favorite songs and rapped a verse from the track that quickly landed on YouTube. And the rest as they say is history. The Super Bass singer immediately transitioned from rap artist to pop star/rap artist.
At the American Music Awards it seemed fitting that Taylor Swift awarded Nicki Minaj with the award for Favorite Rap/Hip Hop artist. As Nicki walked onstage she performed a small curtsy to Taylor, as a thank you.
Nicki also tweeted an additional thank you,
“She was like, ‘I love this song’ and all of her fans went and bought it. She started rapping it and then Selena Gomez started rapping it, and it just became kind of like this little phenomenon.
“I was like, well, I have to thank her because if it wasn’t for her just being open and honest about a new song she liked no-one would know… her fan base would not have known about ‘Super Bass’.”
At the end of the night, Nicki had the honor of the opening performance the AMAs, she performed again later in the show with an extravagant set and walked away with the Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Artist and Best Rap/Hip Hop album award….beating a slew of veteran rappers in her wake.
It’s safe to say the Nicki Minaj reign is just beginning.
