Why Nicki Minaj’s Versace Look at the EMA’s was actually Perfect

With Halloween falling in the middle of the week, the weekends before and after were spent in costume. I saw so many Wonder and Catwomen; Batmen, Spidermen and their respective villains. People love the fantasy of a superhero. So when Nicki Minaj swooped down from the heavens with her gold harness and sheer waist-cape glittering in stars, I was ready to be saved.

I’ve always been slightly irked by the gender-naming of certain music awards; Best Female this vs Best Male this. Why do we need to separate Male and Female musicians and artistes into categories, as though your gender affects your proficiency to create music? The MTV Europe Music Awards category for “Best Hip Hop Artiste” rightly includes nominees regardless of gender into one grouping, although looking through the years of winners and hopefuls, it has been heavily men, and Missy Elliot. Nicki Minaj is the only other woman that has ever been nominated, the only woman that has ever won, and who has won the title every time she has been included. #Hero

Even though she also grabbed up “Best Look”, her over-the-top ensembles have faced much public criticism. This Versace outfit was no different, with bloggers and others calling for her to throw her entire styling team into the trash. But I disagree. Nicki Has never been here to fit in, and the mere fact that she can stir such emotion over what she is wearing, is a testament to her character. Her dramatic Cat-eye and impossibly long blonde hair remind me of She-ra. She looks like a fierce cat; unapologetic. She holds her two awards in hand like Thor’s hammer. Her encrusted mask looks like a piece of the planet she must have come from; gold and dripping in light-reflecting stones. When I’m old and I think back to the female artiste who always won Best Hip Hop every year among overwhelming groups of men, in a genre that they have always dominated; a genre where women are often painted as accessories and ass-shakers in the background, I want to think of Nicki Minaj in this- a Superhero’s suit, accentuating her womanly curves and shouting from the ends of the earth that she is here and roaring.

 

 

Written by Stephanie Ramlogan (@stephanieramlogan) for Fashion Bomb Daily