Journey Green
Nicki Minaj's music and style have been evolving since getting married and becoming a mother. The Queen of the Barbz will be unveiling her new grown and sexy side at the ESSENCE Music Festival this summer.
Last week, ESSENCE Magazine released the lineup for their popular music festival – a massive 3-day music, arts, and culture festival held annually in New Orleans, Louisiana. The multi-stage event was popularized on the 2017 hit movie, “Girls Trip” and caters to a mature, self-confident, female-forward audience.
Nicki Minaj will headline the second day of this year’s Essence Fest alongside iconic performers, including the legendary Janet Jackson, and New Edition. ESSENCE is very selective about the rap artists who perform on their stage, only inviting those who are culturally relevant and empowering to their black, female audience. The fact that Nicki is on the bill indicates a shift from the Queen of the Barbz to an intentionally less explicit – but no less sexy or empowering message.
Fans are excited to see that Nicki Minaj will be hitting the stage. Nicki has not performed in a concert since 2019 – she gave birth to her son in 2020 so this will be her first performance since becoming a mom.
Nicki is putting her evolution in full view, recently revealing that she turned down rapper Gunna’s request to hop on his track, “P Power” because it was too raunchy. According to Nicki, the track was too explicit for her liking now that she’s a mother. She said, “I just wasn’t there. That just to tell you how being a mom has changed me.”
