Nicki Minaj’s epic Twitter spree over the weekend saw her hurl various allegations at several music industry entities, blaming them for her new album not debuting at no. 1. One of those she placed at fault was Spotify and the streaming service has hit back with a denial.
Among Minaj’s accusations, she claims Spotify did not do enough to promote “Queen” as opposed to what they did for her frequent collaborator Drake.
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 20: Nicki Minaj attends the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on August 20, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Zimmerman/WireImage)
“Spotify put Drake’s face on every playlist but told me they’d have to teach me a lesson for playing my music 10 mins early on #QueenRadio. Even tho they’ve been giving away my music for free for years & I am one of the top Spotify artists of all time,” she tweeted.
“My music went up on Apple so I played it,” she added in another tweet. “I assumed it was on Spotify & Tidal at the same time. Spotify said that Apple tweeted fans advising #Queen was up & therefore they had to teach me a lesson. But PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!!!!”
The album, which is her first in four years, was kept from landing at the top of the Billboard 200 chart by Travis Scott’s “Astroworld,” which was released Aug. 3. One of Minaj’s tweets also slammed Scott’s girlfriend Kylie Jenner for posting a tour pass and saying fans could meet her baby, Stormi. The rapper seemed to imply the move boosted Scott’s album sales for another week.
But for Spotify’s part, it maintains it did promote “Queen” on its service and in Times Square.
“Spotify supported Nicki Minaj with a Times Square billboard, a host of the largest playlists, New Music Friday and the new music release shelf,” the representative said in a statement issued to Variety. “Her song ‘Bed’ actually saw an increase based on the promotions put behind the campaign. The company continues to be big fans of Nicki.”
That billboard is also one that Minaj shared on her own Instagram page days ago on Aug. 13.
