Nicki Minaj is really mad that Jay-Z chose Kendrick Lamar as the Halftime performer

Over the weekend, Kendrick Lamar was announced at the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime headliner. In the past five years, the NFL has worked with Roc Nation – meaning Jay-Z – to produce the Halftime show. Jay-Z’s record so far is pretty good, emphasizing Black artists and putting together memorable shows (Usher, Rihanna, the showcase of LA artists and Dr. Dre-affiliated artists). Choosing Kendrick was a great choice, given Kendrick’s music, status and cultural dominance. It’s also very obvious that Jay-Z and Beyonce have personal relationships with Kendrick. They like him and respect him – Beyonce adores him and she’s given Kendrick features on several songs. Well, all of this has upset “the other side.” The Drake side, and everyone affiliated with Drake. Meaning, Lil’ Wayne, Birdman and Nicki Minaj. Lil’ Wayne hasn’t said anything, but Minaj and Birdman are apparently mad at Jay-Z for not giving the Halftime gig to Wayne (because he’s from NOLA). In what world would anyone choose Wayne over Kendrick for the Halftime show? Well, Minaj especially has been in full meltdown mode for the past 24 hours.

The people close to Lil Wayne are making it clear they’re not happy with him not being named the Super Bowl LIX halftime show headliner. Nicki Minaj and Birdman both took to X today to air their gripes with the NFL’s (and presumably Jay-Z’s) decision to have Kendrick Lamar headline the February showcase. While they didn’t explicitly name Jay-Z, who has had a hand in producing Super Bowl halftime shows since 2019, it seems pretty apparent what they’re talking about.

Nicki Minaj took to her account to bemoan “Denying a young black man what he rightfully put into this game for no other reason but your ego. Your hatred for BIRDMAN, Drake & Nicki got you punishing Lil Wayne?!?!!! LIL WAYNE!!!!!!!!!! THE GOAT?!!!!!!!!!!! Nola what’s good?!!!!!! Eminem stood firm on having 50Cent come out.” She also posted “One n-gga took a knee The other n-gga took the bag. He gon get you ‘n–ers’ in line every fkng time.”

Her latter post referred to popular sentiment that Jay-Z’s 2019 partnership with the NFL was in response to former San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick being veritably exiled from the NFL after kneeling during pregame National Anthem performances.

Nicki’s stream of posts included her noting, “I love watching the whole industry play dumb time after time. lol. The truth is the truth no matter who tells it. Picking & choosing who yall accept truth from then BAM! Pow! ???? might tell you a joke but won’t tell you a lie. Bwahahahaaha.”

She also posted “Yall know his next move is going to be to tell yall a “certain someone” is being treated soooooo unfairly so that yall can go back into that trance,” likely referring to Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album not being nominated for any 2024 Country Music Awards. Jay-Z spoke up on Beyonce’s behalf during a memorable speech at the 2024 Grammys.

In another post, Nicki noted, “Got everything in the world. Still spiteful & evil. Disgusting. Be happy Abeg. Go be fkng happy n!gg@!!!!!!!! In rap business. In women business. When you got the Politicians & the police you good tho.” And when another X account told her to “sit out” of advocating for Wayne, she posted, “Oh you think speaking up on injustice within your work place should only be done if it’s for a person who would do it for you? Im rlly the realest n!gg@. Wow.”

And this morning, rapper Cam’ron spoke on the selection on his web series It Is What It Is, noting “There’s no reason why Lil Wayne shouldn’t be performing in the Super Bowl,” adding, “It’s not really a secret. Lil Wayne had a problem with somebody before who’s kind of part of the organization running it. This is payback.” He concluded, “Who’s Lil Wayne’s artist? Drake … Lil Wayne not to be performing in New Orleans for the Super Bowl is egregious and it’s gotta stop.”

[From Rolling Stone]

Personally, I think Minaj’s tantrum is less about Wayne and more about how mad she is at Jay-Z and Beyonce. She’s mad at them for being friendly with Megan Thee Stallion, mad at them for choosing Kendrick’s side in the rap battle and mad at them for not protecting her rapist husband Kenneth Petty. As for Jay-Z and Wayne… while they had beef for years, Wayne has spoken openly about how Jay-Z was the one who stepped up and paid off Wayne’s debt and tax bill. Jay and Wayne are actually fine these days. And no one said that Wayne couldn’t or wouldn’t drop in for an appearance alongside Kendrick, although given the tantrums from Drake’s side, I doubt it will happen now.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images, NFL.