Nicki Minaj, Malcolm X Backlash for 'Looking A$$ Ni---' Cover: Disrespectful to Human Rights Activist During Black History Month?
Rapper Nicki Minaj has pissed off a lot of people after she she used Malcolm X's image for the cover of her new single, Looking A** Ni***.
The photograph, which shows Malcolm X holding an M1 Carbine rifle while looking out of a window is reported to have been taken in his Queens home, after he left the Nation of Islam and was assassinated a year later. The picture is thought to be published in Ebony and Life magazine in 1964.
During the time where Black History Month is acknowledged, many have criticized Minaj's negative use of Malcolm X's image, with the words that appear at the top, Looking A** Ni***.
"Say what you will about his days as Detroit Red hustling on the streets of Harlem, there is nothing N-word like about Malcolm X," Alvin Aqua Blance writes at HipHopWired. "To equate a man that literally died for his cause - the advancement of human rights for people of color - is just wrong on multiple levels."
"However this tacky single cover came to be, someone has some explaining to do. The man born Malcolm Little was no "lookin ass ni**a," period. At least a little respect should always be shown his way," Blance added.
Minaj initially put the cover artwork on her Instagram page, but has since deleted due to the outrage and backlash.
The single is scheduled to appear on Young Money: Rise of an Empire, set to release on March 11 and Minaj's upcoming album, The Pink Print.
