Today in wholly unsurprising developments, Nicki Minaj has expressed support for the White House’s recent use of a mashup of her 2012 track “Beez in the Trap” with 4 Non Blondes’ 1993 hit “What’s Up?”
Earlier this week, the Trump administration shared a video to TikTok soundtracked by the viral mashup, which originates from TikTok user @dj.auxlord. Donald and Melania Trump are seen engaging in some walking in the clip, as well as quasi-dancing.
“The President & First Lady of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Nicki later responded in an X post, as seen below. “Barbz, idk which one of you uploaded this to the white house TikTok but just know unlimited backstage GAG CITY FOR LIFE. Idk what timeline we’re on right now, I’m just goin [with] the flow.”
Previously, Nicki seemingly offered a cosign to Trump’s granddaughter taking part in the “Beez in the Trap” trend.
While Nicki’s approval of her music being used in a Trump TikTok video is unfortunately no surprise, it’s worth pointing out that the administration more often opts for songs from artists who are known to be far from aligned with their policies. This is presumably part of an ongoing effort to goad media outlets into covering the ensuing controversy, thus giving the videos even more attention. In other words, it’s a trap, and we all keep falling for it. In an attention economy, we all lose.
Nicki herself appears to have been taking a similar approach on social media in recent months, more or less suggesting as much with her reaction to a fan saying she’s going to “rage bait us into oblivion.”
The 12-time Grammy nominee is believed to be readying a new album for next year, though the veracity of such teases remains a bit unclear.
