Nicki Minaj Shouts Out Ye, Eminem, & Rihanna After Legendary Career-Spanning VMAs Performance

BYHayley Hynes12.5K Views
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Nicki Minaj
The 39-year-old brought out hits like "All Things Go," "Roman's Revenge," "Monster," and "Beez In The Trap."

The annual MTV Music Video Awards always guarantee an impressive roster of performances for the evening, but this year, the artist viewers were most excited to see was none other than "Super Bass" hitmaker Nicki Minaj, who also happens to be the recipient of the 2022 Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

Before she accepted the prestigious prize, the Trinidadian rapper delivered a rousing career-spanning presentation, which included greatest hits like "All Things Go," "Roman's Revenge," "Monster," "Beez in the Trap," "Chun-Li," "Moment 4 Life," "Super Bass," "Anaconda," and finally, her most recent arrival, "Super Freaky Girl."

Nicki Minaj Shouts Out Ye, Eminem, & Rihanna After Legendary Career-Spanning VMAs Performance
Nicki Minaj performs at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards -- Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

As PEOPLE notes, the crowd was happily singing along, standing up to cheer Mama Minaj on. Cameras even caught country/pop star Taylor Swift rapping the lyrics to some of the tracks and encouraging others to stand up with her.

While she was accepting VMA (presented to her by members of the Barbz), the 39-year-old gave a heartwarming speech during which she gave a shoutout to "key people" who she considers to be inspirations, such as Lil Wayne and JAY-Z.

Minaj also gave flowers to Kanye West, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Eminem, and more for giving her "huge opportunities" that helped her reach the level she's at now.


The "Feelin' Myself" hitmaker took a moment to focus on mental health and other artists who we've tragically lost in recent years. "I wish Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson were still here," she said.

"I wish that people understood what they meant and what they were going through. I wish people took mental health seriously, even for the people who we think have perfect lives. I wish Pop Smoke and Juice WRLD and Nipsey Hussle were here."

Minaj continued, "RIP Daddy, my cousin Richard and my business manager Angela who I never got to say rest in peace to publicly," before shouting out her 23-month-old son, Papa Bear.

Past recipients of the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award include LL Cool J, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Madonna, and Missy Elliott, who the Barbz attempted to start beef with earlier this weekend – read more about that here, and tap back in with HNHH later for more hip-hop news updates.

[Via]


About The Author
Hayley Hynes is the former Weekend Managing Editor of HotNewHipHop, she stepped down after two years in 2024 to pursue other creative opportunities but remains on staff part-time to cover music, gossip, and pop culture news. Currently, she contributes similar content on Blavity and 21Ninety, as well as on her personal blog where she also offers tarot/astrology services. Hayley resides on the western side of Canada, previously spending a year in Vancouver to study Fashion Marketing at Blanche Macdonald Centre and Journalism at Mount Royal University in Calgary before that. She's passionate about helping others heal through storytelling, and shares much more about her life on Instagram @hayleyhynes.
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