World Narrowly Avoids Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift Feud Based On, Of All Things, The VMAs

The doomsday clock was moved one minute closer to midnight when a stray Tweet by a snubbed Nicki Minaj almost set off another Taylor Swift feud.

The nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards – a really very important thing that artists definitely should be paying close attention to and not disregarding in the slightest – were announced today, with Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” video unsurprisingly nommed for the top prize.

She'll go up against her “Bad Blood” buddy Kendrick Lamar’s solo clip for “Alright”, Beyoncé’s selfie-spectacular “7/11”, Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and Mark Ronson’s unkillable collaboration with Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”.

Minaj’s “Anaconda” clip, however, didn’t make the cut. Needless to say, she was bummed. (Pun not intended, and I will swear to that in a court of law.)

Though “Anaconda” received a number of other nominations, Nicki was a little annoyed by MTV’s slight. In her own words:

Taylor, sensing that she was being called out, Warriors-style, fired back.

@NICKIMINAJ I've done nothing but love & support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot..

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 21, 2015

To which Nicki replied:

After that, Taylor, presumably having seen too many casualties from the Swift-Perry wars of 2015, wisely opted against going nuclear.

@NICKIMINAJ If I win, please come up with me!! You're invited to any stage I'm ever on.

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 21, 2015

And lo, the world was spared from tragedy.

Does this Twitter spray amount to much more than a hill of beans? Well… it has certainly generated plenty of ripe publicity for MTV’s upcoming telecast, set to be hosted by Miley Cyrus. (Don’t tell me there won’t be a camera trained on Nicki when it’s time for Taylor’s eventual triumph.)

Still, Minaj is right to stand up for her video. As an artist, she created a cultural moment with the “Anaconda” clip. It broke the record for the most VEVO views in 24 hours. Yet, it was ghettoized to the Hip Hop category while “Bad Blood” was elevated to the pantheon of great clips. (We are being very generous with the power bestowed by the VMAs here.)

Does her snubbing point to the larger, systemic issue of how contributions by black Americans to the music industry are largely overshadowed? Did Swift only hurt the issue by playing ignorant without acknowledging the otherwise unspoken upper hand she has in the industry? Was it problematic for Minaj to suggest another woman had stolen her spot? Are any of these clips better than the video for Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment’s “Sunday Candy”? Of those questions, only the last allows for a definite answer: No, not at all.

What can't be denied, however, is this: if MTV can’t even identify a pop culture touchstone, what good are the VMAs?