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After months of speculation and word-playing, rapper Nicki Minaj finally confirmed that her bisexuality was just a publicity gimmick. She now joins the ranks of other straight celebrities who love playing bi for record sales, such as Christina Aguilera and Katy Perry. While her revelation is completely unsurprising, her actions are far from harmless, as they further perpetuate the stereotype that bisexuality is nothing more than a cry for attention.
The guessing game over Ms. Minaj's sexuality began with the release of her single “Go Hard”, where she rapped that she'd only stop for “pedestrians or a real real bad lesbian”. Since homophobia has been a long-standing issue in the hip-hop industry, many queers (myself included) were excited to hear references of bisexuality coming from a popular mainstream rapper. That excitement was enhanced when Nicki did an interview with Details Magazine in May, where she was asked this question:
Q: As an openly bisexual rapper, do you think hip-hop is getting more gay-friendly?
A: I think the world is getting more gay-friendly, so hip-hop is too. But it's harder to imagine an openly gay male rapper being embraced. People view gay men as having no street credibility. But I think we'll see one in my lifetime.
Ms. Minaj had every opportunity to clear up the fact that she wasn't bisexual by just correcting the interviewer but she didn't, which made everyone assume that she was bi. However, a month later we were left scratching our heads when she told Black Men Magazine that she doesn't date or have sex with women unless “of course, until Cassie comes available”. This generated buzz throughout the LGBT blogsphere that she was recanting everything she said.
Read more @ the blog