Shortly after Miley Cyrus announced her Instagram fans that she would be hosting the 2015 edition of the MTV Video Music Awards, which takes place on August 30, MTV released the full list of nominees. Unsurprisingly, Taylor Swift leads the pack with nods for “Bad Blood.” Surprisingly, Nicki Minaj got very little love for her “Anaconda.”
“Anaconda” would be the August 2014 release that’s currently sitting at over 488 million views on YouTube and that was the talk of the industry all through last summer. Comparatively, Taylor’s video was released in May this year, and has “only” 361 million views so far.
Nicki is upset, but not with Taylor
The number of views and the cultural impact of the video alone should have qualified “Anaconda” for a nomination in the Video of the Year category, Nicki took to Twitter to say. She also argued, as you can see below, that her collaboration with Beyonce, “Feeling Myself,” should have also gotten some recognition in the same category.
Nicki said that her not being nominated was a clear example of the bias of the “white media” towards black entertainers, especially if they were female.
She didn’t mention Taylor and her video, which got so much love that the Internet actually suggested MTV should change the name of the VMAs to the “Taylor Swift Appreciation Awards,” but she did speak of “other girls” who made videos for “other body types.”
Later, when the story that she “dissed” Taylor went viral, she made sure to stress her problem wasn’t with Taylor but with the media and the industry in general.
Taylor isn’t happy
As you can also see from the tweets included below, under the full list of nominees, Taylor chimed in at some point to tell Nicki that she shouldn’t go after her because she was always nothing but supportive of her work.
Taylor has always been of the opinion that women in showbiz shouldn’t be critical of one another, because it’s not the feminist thing to do - even at those times when criticism was justified.
To prove that she was still supportive of Nicki, Taylor invited the rapper on stage with her if she wins.
As you probably imagine, Nicki’s fans believe Taylor is in the wrong by jumping to “attack” Nicki when all she was doing was pointing out facts: the industry favors white entertainers over black ones. They’re also condemning her for her “girls shouldn’t criticize girls” policy, because it allows this situation to continue.
Video of the Year
Beyoncé, “7/11” Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud” Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood” Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk” Kendrick Lamar, “Alright”
Best Collaboration
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk” Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood” Ariana Grande feat. the Weeknd, “Love Me Harder” Jessie J feat. Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, “Bang Bang” Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth, “See You Again”
Best Video with a Social Message
Jennifer Hudson, “I Still Love You” Colbie Calliat, “Try” Big Sean, “One Man Can Change the World” Rihanna, “American Oxygen” Wale, “The White Shoes”
Best Hip-Hop Video
Fetty Wap, “Trap Queen” Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda” Kendrick Lamar, “Alright” Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth, “See You Again” Big Sean, “I Don’t [expletive] with You”
Best Rock Video
Hozier, “Take Me to Church” Fall Out Boy, “Centuries” Florence + the Machine, “Ship to Wreck” Walk the Moon, “Shut Up and Dance” Arctic Monkeys, “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High”
Best Female Video
Beyoncé, “7/11″ Taylor Swift, “Blank Space” Sia, “Elastic Heart” Ellie Goulding, “Love Me Like You Do” Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda”
Best Male Video
Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud” Big Sean, “I Don’t [expletive] with You” Nick Jonas, “Chains” The Weeknd, “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)” Kendrick Lamar, “Alright”
Best Pop Video
Beyoncé, “7/11” Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud” Taylor Swift, “Blank Space” Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk” Maroon 5, “Sugar”
Artist to Watch
Fetty Wap, “Trap Queen” Vance Joy, “Riptide” George Ezra, “Budapest” James Bay, “Hold Back the River” FKA Twigs, “Pendulum”
Best Art Direction
Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood” (Charles Infante, art dir.) Snoop Dogg, “So Many Pros” (Jason Fijal, art dir.) Jack White, “Would You Fight For My Love?” (Jeff Peterson, art dir.) The Chemical Brothers, “Go” (Michel Gondry, art dir.) Skrillex & Diplo feat. Justin Bieber, “Where Are U Now” (Brewer, art dir.)
Best Choreography
Beyonce, “7/11″ (Beyonce, Chris Grant, choreographers; Additional choreography: Gabriel Valenciano”) OK Go, “I Won’t Let You Down” (OK Go, air:man, Mori Harano, choreographers) Chet Faker, “Gold” (Ryan Heffington, choreographer) Ed Sheeran, “Don’t” (Nappy Tabs, choreographer) Flying Lotus feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Never Catch Me” (Keone, Mari Madrid, dir.)
Best Cinematography
Flying Lotus feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Never Catch Me” (Larkin Seiple, DP) Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud” (Daniel Pearl, DP) Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood” (Christopher Probst, DP) FKA Twigs, “Two Weeks” (Justin Brown, DP) Alt-J, “Left Hand Free” (Mike Simpson, DP)
Best Direction
Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood” (Joseph Kahn, dir.) Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk” (Bruno Mars & Cameron Duddy, dir.) Kendrick Lamar, “Alright” (Colin Tilley & The Little Homies, dir.) Hozier, “Take Me to Church” (Brendan Canty & Conal Thomson of Feel Good Lost, dir.) Childish Gambino, “Sober” (Hiro Murai, dir.)
Best Editing
Beyonce, “7/11″ (Beyoncé, Ed Burke, Jonathan Wing, editors) Ed Sheeran, “Don’t” (Jacquelyn London, editor) Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood” (Chancler Haynes @ Cosmo Street, editor) A$AP Rocky, “L$D” (Dexter Navy, editor) Skrillex & Diplo feat. Justin Bieber, “Where Are U Now” (Brewer, editor)
Best Visual Effects
Taylor Swift, “Bad Blood” (Ingenuity Studios, vfx) FKA Twigs, “Two Weeks” (Gloria FX, Tomash Kuzmytskyi, & Max Chyzhevskyy, vfx) Childish Gambino, “Telegraph Ave” (Gloria FX, vfx) Skrillex & Diplo feat. Justin Bieber, “Where Are U Now” (Brewer, vfx) Tyler, the Creator, “[expletive]-ing Young/Death Camp” (Gloria FX, vfx)
Hey guys @MTV thank you for my nominations. 😘😘😘 Did Feeling Myself miss the deadline or...?
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
If I was a different "kind" of artist, Anaconda would be nominated for best choreo and vid of the year as well. 😊😊😊
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
U couldn't go on social media w/o seeing ppl doing the cover art, choreo, outfits for Halloween...an impact like that & no VOTY nomination?
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
When the "other" girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture they get that nomination. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
Ironically, I'm shooting a VIDEO today😩
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
Oh but trust me. I'll be on that stage to collect my awards for vid of the year. Feeling Myself & Anaconda. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
I'm not always confident. Just tired. Black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it. https://t.co/2xOvJzBXJX
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
Huh? U must not be reading my tweets. Didn't say a word about u. I love u just as much. But u should speak on this. @taylorswift13
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
Nothing I said had to do with Taylor. So what jabs? White media and their tactics. So sad. That's what they want. https://t.co/AfcwoyDvpg
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
Ryan posted a headline of Taylor saying she loves & supports me. But not me saying the same to her. Lol. Their headline says I took a "jab"?
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
I'm so glad u guys get to see how this stuff works. Taylor took her music off spotify and was applauded. We launched Tidal & were dragged.
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
@NICKIMINAJ I've done nothing but love & support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot..
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 21, 2015
@NICKIMINAJ If I win, please come up with me!! You're invited to any stage I'm ever on.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 21, 2015