“So if my work is misinterpreted because it’s not a sappy tearjerker, sorry I’m not sorry,” claims director, Jeffrey Osborne, of Nicki Minaj’s new music video for her song Only. Nicki Minaj’s new music video suggests glorifying Hitler, invoking the same propaganda in the video as Hitler did to his army. Though Nicki Minaj has apologized for making this video, the real controversy lies in the director’s choice to keep his opinion that the video isn’t violating anything, rather sharing history onto the new generation.
As a Jewish person and a communications student, I must ask the question of how far one can go to utilize their First Amendment rights, while glorifying an atrocity in history. Watching this video, I was horrified; not only does this feature the same symbols paralleling that of the Nazi regime, but it offends Holocaust survivors and possibly Jews everywhere. I believe this crosses the line, no longer giving the production company First Amendment rights as it is beyond offending.
The director claims to want to share history in a way that the young adults in our generation would grasp: through pop culture. So to share the knowledge of this event it is better to combine a historical event that killed millions with a song with vulgar lyrics? Not only does the song use lyrics describing Nicki Minaji’s “big titties” and “ass,” but it compares her to the man who led a movement to kill millions of Jews. The lyrics do not relate to the storyline of creating the Nazi regime, proving the video simply shows the lyrics of the song with symbolic attrocities of the Holocaust.
The track features artists Drake, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown, which puts them in the negative spotlight as well. These three are depicted as corporate tycoon, the Pope and a general in the regime building up the storyline and the negative connotation towards the artists. Drake, a Jewish artist, is questioned especially for approving the video, as if none of their producers or representatives didn’t realize that the video would be heavily criticized. Nicki Minaj tweets about the incident apologizing, yet trying to justify the video’s imagery, saying “the artist who made the lyric video for “Only” was influenced by a cartoon on Cartoon Network called “Metalocalypse” & Sin City.” She also explains further that, “the producer, & person in charge of overseeing the lyric video happen to be Jewish,” which makes me question further how no one caught the Nazi imagery or thought it would be ridiculed by the public.
To top off the video, the premiere date was on the 76th anniversary of Kristallnacht, further expressing the artistic freedom that the production company took advantage of. So while the video glorifies Hitler and his regime, it stings “The Night of the Broken Glass” (when anti-semitic Nazis instigated citizens and officially turned to violence, invading Jews’ houses, businesses and synagogues in Germany and Austria).
The video is offending to many across the world. Many comment on the Vevo video on YouTube, claiming that if someone created a video glorifying slavery, there would be the same uprising and it would not be deemed as acceptable. Overall, it’s scary to think that in the 21st century in the United States this kind of video could still be published. The director technically does have the rights to post this video, but I am surprised that he has not been sued yet or forced to take it down.