Nicki Minaj's new music video for the song “Only” (Lyric) ft. Drake, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown is filled with stylized Nazi-esque imagery.
According to Abraham H. Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, “Nicki Minaj’s new video disturbingly evokes Third Reich propaganda and constitutes a new low for pop culture’s exploitation of Nazi symbolism.” Foxman added, “The irony should be lost on no one that this video debuted on the 76th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the 'Night of Broken Glass' pogrom that signaled the beginning of the Final Solution and the Holocaust.”
It's also interesting to note that Drake, one of the featured artists in the video, is Jewish.
UPDATE: Nicki Minaj has apologized via twitter:
The artist who made the lyric video for “Only” was influenced by a cartoon on Cartoon Network called “Metalocalypse” & Sin City.
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) November 11, 2014
Both the producer, & person in charge of over seeing the lyric video (one of my best friends & videographer: A. Loucas), happen to be Jewish
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) November 11, 2014
I didn't come up w/the concept, but I'm very sorry & take full responsibility if it has offended anyone. I'd never condone Nazism in my art.
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) November 11, 2014
The video's director and creative artist, Jeff Osborne, went a different route:
“As far as an explanation, I think its actually important to remind younger generations of atrocities that occurred in the past as a way to prevent them from happening in the future. And the most effective way of connecting with people today is through social media and pop culture. So if my work is misinterpreted because it’s not a sappy tearjerker, sorry I’m not sorry. What else is trending?”
You can watch the video and form your opinion here: