Is the queen of rap's crown fading? As ticket sales for Nicki Minaj's canceled tour were rep
Culled from Page Six and BBC
Nicki Minaj is “spiraling out of control,” say top music-industry insiders, amid disastrous tour ticket sales — and she’s lashing out at Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner, accusing them of using their baby to boost his album sales, Page Six reported.
According to Page Six, stubs for her upcoming tour — to begin next month — aren’t flying off the shelves.
A Live Nation source told Page Six that, “Nicki’s tour could be the most disappointing ticket sales of the year for any artist. These are big arenas with up to 20,000 capacities. Sales for opening night in Baltimore is 2,000 tickets. LA is 3,400, New Orleans 1,000, Denver 1,300, Chicago 3,900. Even her hometown Brooklyn is only 5,050.”
Sources even said the tour is in danger of being canceled.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Minaj went after Scott and Jenner on her Beats 1 show, “Queen Radio,” accusing them of manipulating the sales of his No. 1 album by using a well-known industry cheat of bundling free albums with cheap merchandise — like clothing and so-called tour passes — to bump up sales figures.
Minaj fumed that Scott was “selling f - - king sweaters [and] tour passes” and parading daughter Stormi “for publicity.”
She called Scott “ho n - - - a of the week,” ranting the alleged maneuver had put his “Astroworld” album at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 while her new album, “Queen,” debuted at No. 2.
An industry insider said, “Nicki has gone off the rails. She can’t take it that she sold less records than Cardi B (who’s stealing her thunder big time) in her first week; she can’t take it that Travis beat her to No. 1. Her ticket sales for her tour are in the toilet, and it’s making her even more crazy.”
This comes after a major Minaj meltdown on Twitter, when she caused a stir bycomparing herself to abolitionist Harriet Tubman. And at the Video Music Awards Monday, show organizers moved Scott and Jenner to seats farther away from her, Page Six reported.
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Nicki v the fan
Before the release of Queen, Nicki apparently sent DM message to music journalist - and Nicki Minaj fan - Wanna Thompson.
She had criticised Nicki which resulted in a backlash from other fans and even the rapper herself.
Nicki v Travis Scott, Kylie Jenner and Stormi
Nicki also directed criticism at Spotify, alleging they didn't promote her new material as much as she had expected or wanted.
Is the crown fading?
It seems lazy to compare the two, but in the past year Cardi B has definitely put a dent in Nicki Minaj's crown.
Cardi's Bodak Yellow topped the Billboard Hot 100, something Nicki has - so far - never managed to achieve.
That's not to take away from Nicki's immense talent, her musical relevance and her status as a world class artist.
But you could argue that her recent singles have failed to make as big an impact as earlier mega hits like Anaconda and Starships.
Obviously it's brilliant for music fans to have a wider selection of female rappers making it big, but when you've dominated for so long, no-one likes being nudged off their perch, BBC reported.
