Lauryn Hill defends Nicki Minaj's Summer Jam no-show
The drama surrounding Nicki Minaj's sudden withdrawal from New York radio station Hot 97's Summer Jam concert continues.
On Sunday (June 3), the rapper pulled out of her headlining set after morning show host Peter Rosenberg dissed her single "Starships" as "not real hip-hop" during a rant to the crowd. As a result, her mentor and label boss Lil Wayne reportedly ordered her not to perform.
Although Minaj has faced criticism for backing out, the MC has at least one high-profile defender: Lauryn Hill. The former Fugee joined rapper Nas on stage during his Summer Jam set and after the show she took to Twitter.
"I don't have details on exactly what transpired between the station and the artists, but I do support artists standing by their beliefs, and walking with integrity. We have to find a better way to commercially exploit music, while giving artists their proper respect," she wrote."This cannot be done while taking their contributions for granted, or trying to control the scope of their growth and power through threats and fear tactics. We can do better than this, there is a better way, or else 'we' (the proverbial we) find ourselves in danger of being hypocrites!!!"
On Monday night, the rapper called in to Funkmaster Flex's radio show on the station and accused Rosenberg of sexism and disrespecting her fans during a lengthy and lively conversation. The following day she called in to Hot 97 competitor Power 105 to re-address the controvesy, Hill's statement and other simmering issues.
"Even artists that were supposed to come out on my set were asked to perform and they said, ‘If Nicki’s not on that stage, then I’m not on that stage and we gonna ride out on loyalty tonight,’" she said. "We all salute Lauryn [Hill] and she gave an amazing statement about this whole thing and no one has said anything. Nas retweeted that, [Fabolous] tweeting last night, and [Cam'ron] and [Foxy Brown] showed me so much love that same night. This is something that’s horrible and it needs to be addressed."
Listen to Nicki Minaj's call with Funkmaster Flex here and her call to Power 105 here. (via Rap-Up)
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Kevin Ritchie
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