Nicki Minaj has taken aim at both Spotify and Travis Scott, after her anticipated fourth album ‘Queen’ failed to bag the top spot in the U.S. charts.
It was revealed this weekend that ‘Queen’ had bagged the second spot with 185,000 unit sales – only beaten by the 205,000 copies of Travis Scott’s ‘Astroworld’.
But Minaj has contested the figures – claiming that Scott had only achieved the top spot by selling ‘Season Passes’, which provide fans with pre-sale access to his live shows if they purchase the album.
“Travis sold over 50K of these. With no requirement of redeeming the album! With no dates for a tour, etc. I spoke to him. He knows he doesn’t have the #1 album this week. I love my fans for the #1 album in AMERICA!”, she wrote on Twitter.
Travis sold over 50K of these. With no requirement of redeeming the album! With no dates for a tour, etc. I spoke to him. He knows he doesn’t have the #1 album this week. I love my fans for the #1 album in AMERICA! I’ll explain on #QueenRadio 4 albums in, #1 in 86 countries ♥️ pic.twitter.com/CiYEuczgm3
— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) August 19, 2018
I put my blood sweat & tears in writing a dope album only for Travis Scott to have Kylie Jenner post a tour pass telling ppl to come see her & Stormi. lol. Im actually laughing. #Queen broke the record of being number 1 in 86 countries. Thank Jesus & thank you to my fans.
— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) August 19, 2018
She added in a follow-up tweet: “Put my blood sweat & tears in writing a dope album only for Travis Scott to have Kylie Jenner post a tour pass telling ppl to come see her & Stormi. lol. Im actually laughing. #Queen broke the record of being number 1 in 86 countries. Thank Jesus & thank you to my fans.”
After criticising Scott, Minaj then turned her ire to Spotify – claiming that she was being punished for debuting the record on her Beats 1 radio show.
Spotify put drake’s face on every playlist but told me they’d have to teach me a lesson for playing my music 10 mins early on #QueenRadio. Even tho they’ve been giving away my music for free for years & I am one of the top Spotify artists of all time.
— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) August 19, 2018
Spotify had to teach me a lesson but rewarded the man who has had an Apple radio show the longest; inadvertently helping the Apple platform the most. Oh I can’t wait for #QueenRadio on Tuesday. They took away my promotion they had promised for the 1st cpl days b/c of this. #Queen
— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) August 19, 2018
My music went up on Apple so I played it. I assumed it was on Spotify & Tidal at the same time. Spotify said that Apple tweeted fans advising #Queen was up & therefore they had to teach me a lesson. But PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!!!!
— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) August 19, 2018
“Spotify put drake’s face on every playlist but told me they’d have to teach me a lesson for playing my music 10 mins early on #QueenRadio”, she claimed.
“Even tho they’ve been giving away my music for free for years & I am one of the top Spotify artists of all time.”
“Spotify had to teach me a lesson but rewarded the man who has had an Apple radio show the longest; inadvertently helping the Apple platform the most”, she added.
“Oh I can’t wait for #QueenRadio on Tuesday. They took away my promotion they had promised for the 1st cpl days b/c of this. ”
NME’s three-star verdict of Queen described it as a “mighty regal affair”.
“‘Queen’ *almost* works as a two-way effort from Nicki Minaj, one part reclamation of her position at hip-hop’s top table and one part raising the bar for any pretenders looking to take a seat”, our review stated.
“Unfortunately, in trying to take on all comers at once, there are parts of Queen that few like an overreach. There is a better ten track effort hiding in Queen, but you get the impression Nicki kept tracks like ‘Miami’ to hedge her bets in a bid for streaming success. The ‘Queen’ is back, but only just.”