I knew when we started off this class that I wanted to my research on an entertainer that could be related and compared to the New Negro in terms of being an artist and an entrepreneur so that the person could be an example for both Locke and Baldwin. While I first decided on Tupac because the amount of social commentary provided within his lyrics, a few other people were focusing on him as well and I decided that I wanted to take on something related to both the fields I study, so something where I could take a feminist stance/viewpoint. Thus, I picked my new New Negro to be up and comer artist, sex symbol, and entrepreneur, Nicki Minaj.
One of my sources where I got a lot of great information from was the documentary "My Time Now" about Nicki Minaj in the weeks leading up to the release of her first album. In the documentary not only does Nicki Minaj discuss stereotypes and double standards and how she needs to combat the sexism and misogyny that exists in the entertainment and rap industry, but she demonstrates many aspects of the New Negro- namely the upward mobility, being an artist and the social commentary that she makes, and her being a woman and an entrepreneur.
In terms of the upward mobility, the documentary shows the background that the now-famous and wealthy entertainer came up from. Like many of the New Negroes discussed by Baldwin and Locke, Minaj was emigrated to the United States after being born in Trinidad and living with her grandmother and many cousins for years while her parents got settled in Queens in New York. She discusses growing up in poverty, her father falling victim to a crack addiction and her and her family being victims to his physical abuse until they got away from them. She also discusses the difficulty of growing up in a land that did not meet up to her expectations and slanging her mix-tapes while she worked dead-end jobs just dreaming of being able to do what she loved one day.
For her epitomizing being an artist and an entrepreneur, the documentary also showcases Nicki Minaj while she is engaging in her work, music, fans, and her branding. The video footage begins with her 6 weeks before her cd was set to release and she was still just getting known from features she did on other artists songs yet when she tweets for people to pre-order her cd via her twitter page, within minutes she jumps from number five hundred and three to number four. Writers from various magazines like Vibe and Rolling Stone comment on how high the mortality is for female MCs and how great of a job she is doing branding herself but still being unique. Nicki Minaj says herself that she does not understand why there is not a female rapper who turned mogul- with their "own empire" as she says but she concludes by saying how she plans on being the first. She is shown completely in control of her own business and music and making phone calls dealing with people; she is a complete businesswoman. Also within the video she takes a completely feminist approach when she discusses why girls who are assertive being called bitches is so problematic whereas a male who does the same is a boss. She definitely prides herself on setting a positive, girl-power, inspiring, role model persona to her fans and strives for constant greatness and perfection in her work in order to maintain her position at the top as a New Negro.
