S. Samuel
Young Money's Nicki Minaj appears in the new issue of Teen Vogue and discusses her stance toward social media and why people should not be afraid to pull the plug on their accounts.
Minaj said she used to acknowledge the online hate and finally realized it was not worth her time or effort.
“My journey to who I am today began on MySpace,” she says. “I love getting real opinions from people. … I used to read the bad things people said about me. Then I asked myself, ‘Why am I reading that when I have millions of people saying great things?’ You cannot give negativity power. I tell teens, if you’re having a problem, there’s nothing wrong with deleting your social media. If people keep taunting you and you keep reading it, it’s poison.” (Teen Vogue)
Last year, Minaj made headlines when she deleted her Twitter page.
Meanwhile, Nicki claims a voice in her head told her to delete her twitter account earlier this week after she got angry about her music being leaked online but Nicki has pleaded for her fans to stand by her. She explained: ‘A voice in my head told me to delete my twitter and that’s what I did. I had 11 million followers and I hope they will wait for me. I miss my Barbz, please wait for me.’ (Monster & Critics)
Recently, West Coast rapper Kendrick Lamar explained his disinterest in getting too caught up in social media.
“That’s why I try my best to stay away from social media as much as possible. [laughs] When you go on your Twitter or look down your Timeline and it’s all great positivity–I love that. But at the same time, it can really divert you from what your purpose is or what you’re trying to do. And I’ve seen artists get caught up in that. I’ve seen some of my friends get caught in that. Whether you’re a small celebrity or a grand celebrity, it really triggers something in your brain, seeing all that stuff . . . So I’m real aware of it.” (Interview Magazine)
A few years ago, Lamar’s “Poetic Justice” collaborator Drake credited the power of online outlets for helping jump-start his career.
“Initially, I think I just didn’t know what would happen,” Drake recalls. “I was this rapper with a little bit of buzz, the internet was taking over, and I didn’t know the power of the internet at that point. The true power of social networking and the things we are so emmersed in now. There wasn’t an artist that had been 100% birthed from that outlet and I think to be discovered on MySpace, how I was found, and for it to somehow reach Wayne’s ears and for him to feel so confident about it and call me and to release a mixtape on the internet again and have a record somehow go #1 off a mixtape using the internet as a tool. It was all amazing because it was all a first, I can’t remember that happening in my day. Even if you think of 50 [Cent], [Kanye West], and [Young] Jeezy, I remember having hard copies of all of those tapes. I remember it being more about the radio.” (Global Grind)
