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| Nicki Minaj, with Hot 97 Program Director Ebro looking on. |
Nearly
a year ago Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg stepped in a fresh pile of shit
live onstage at Summer Jam when he wore his backpack on his sleeve and
straight dissed Nicki Minaj's super-hit "Starships." You'll recall, in
his attempt to kowtow to the "real" hip-hop fans in the crowd at a secondary stage and watching live via Internet stream, Rosenberg called "Starships"
"bullshit." Minaj -- usually very level headed and open to critique --
surprisingly didn't cop well to what he had to say. She refused to
perform. The New York Times hit the nail on the head in a summary of events shortly after, Nicki called Funk Master Flex to vent,
and life went on. But Minaj hasn't been on Hot 97 in person since the
ordeal, and this morning, she and Rosenberg spoke face to face in order
to find common ground. Did they?
Kinda.
Rosenberg explained himself as best he could to a rather bored
looking Minaj. He meant what he said that day, but certainly didn't
expect it to take on the life it did. He also regretted the fact that it
turned into an issue of race and gender. "I was a women's study minor
in college," he said, adding that he wants nothing more than to see
women succeed and is the "antithesis" of the type of guy Minaj painted
him as shortly after the incident occurred. He regrets most about that
day -- wrong time, wrong place, wrong context. On his way to the parking
lot, he used security for the first time in his 16 year radio career.
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| Nicki Minaj |
For her part, Minaj's only regrets not performing. She has a duty to
the fans, she said, and she disappointed many that day by not going on.
They didn't know what was going on behind the scenes, got no
explanation, and didn't deserve to be put in the middle. BUT, as a woman
in rap, she's taken a lot of shit over the years from men who feel
entitled to pop off at the mouth about her and her career. She was sick
of that. And the fact that it came from a guy, Rosenberg, who she claims
she'd never heard of, made her all the more angry. About that she
offers a thorough and rather eye-opening opinion about what it's like,
if you'll please forgive this term, to be a female in the game. The
entire 27 minutes they devote to the incident is rather fascinating.
Give it a look:
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