She is one of the world’s biggest selling solo artists, with a string of coveted awards to her name.
One could therefore safely assume tickets for Nicki Minaj’s 22-date tour – kicking off in just three months time – would be snapped up within seconds.
However, this has not been the case at all, with the 35-year-old Chun-Li rapper having yet to sell out a single date.
Could it be Nicki’s heated feud with Cardi B has led to fans keeping her at arms length?
The tour was announced back in June 2018, with Nicki co-headlining alongside Turn On the Lights rapper Future.
She allegedly believed her well-received performance at the MTV European Music Awards would be enough to get bums on seats, but this unfortunately was not enough to pique interest.
A source reportedly told The Sun:
Nicki is a big name in the industry but she is becoming known more for the drama around what she says and does rather than her music.
Her feud with Cardi B has turned a lot of people off her and even getting Future involved in the tour hasn’t shifted tickets.
The source added:
Thousands and thousands of tickets for her show remain unsold and it’s just not good at all, especially as she already had to postpone her US dates earlier this year because her album wasn’t ready.
The longstanding feud between Nicki and Cardi came to a dramatic boiling point back during September’s Harper’s Bazaar ICONS party, in a New York Fashion Week altercation historians may well look back on as Shoegate.
Enraged by Nicki supposedly liking tweets which cast doubt on Cardi’s parenting skills, the 26-year-old Bodak Yellow rapper allegedly chucked a shoe at the Anaconda rappper, leaving her with a noticeable bump on her head.
Writing on Instagram after the incident, Cardi appeared to be addressing her rival as she raged:
I’ve let a lot of sh*t slide! I let you sneak diss me, I let you lie on me, I let you attempt to stop my bags, fuck up the way I eat!
You’ve threaten other artists in the industry, told them if they work with me you’ll stop f*ckin with them!! I let you talk big sh*t about me!!
I let you talk big sh*t about me!! I addressed you once in person, I addressed you a second time in person, and every time you copped the plea!!
But when you mention my child, you choose to like comments about me as a mother, make comments about my abilities to take care of my daughter is when all bets are f*cking off!!
I’ve worked to [sic] hard and come too far to let anybody f*ck with my success!!!!
Despite slouching ticket sales, this has been a career defining week for Nicki who has now firmly earned her place in music history.
As reported by Billboard, she is now the very first woman ever to have one hundred appearances on Billboard Hot 100, rising above legendary artists such as Aretha Franklin and The Beatles, who enjoyed 73 and 71 appearances respectively.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.