While the VMA’s are just around the corner (literally a half hour away), there’s been some drama brewing behind the scenes between two of the top artists of the year.
Nicki Minaj decided to launch an all-out attack on rapper Travis Scott this week after his new album Astroworld beat her new album Queen for the number one spot on Billboard’s Top 200. Let me catch you up to speed on the tea…
Nicki Minaj launched an attack on Twitter towards Travis Scott and his girlfriend/baby-momma Kylie Jenner.
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.
— QUEEN (@NICKIMINAJ) August 19, 2018
The photo that Minaj is referring to, of course, is the one Kylie Jenner posted on her Instagram, captioning it: “me and storm ready for tour.”
Nicki basically got angry that Kylie helped her boyfriend sell merch linked to album sales, boosting his numbers to beat hers.
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
— QUEEN (@NICKIMINAJ) August 19, 2018
Many artists have begun linking album and merchandise sales, as more people have switched to streaming apps and services over purchasing whole albums. Therefore, they can still lock in high album sale numbers, even if people aren’t buying the album outright.
I looked at the numbers the Carters, Kanye, Nas, etc recently did. Travis sold 200K in his first week of clothes alone. I spoke to him last night & he said he’s been selling clothes b4 the music. Billboard says they’ll change the rules cuz of this, so it should be changed now!
— QUEEN (@NICKIMINAJ) August 19, 2018
Essentially, people were cringing that Nicki threw a tantrum on Twitter all over being number two on the charts, instead of number one. And, people were not having it.
Nicki Minaj really believes the sole reason Travis Scott outsold her is because Kylie posted a link to his website captioned “me and Stormi ready for tour” pic.twitter.com/15kiINKqFo
— checks over stripes? (@kehann_) August 19, 2018
I imagine Travis Scott picking up Nicki Minaj call and saying “You Right sis… u #1 this week… “ then hanging up and laughing his ass off with Kylie n stormi while they refresh billboard ?
— DJ Akademiks (@IamAkademiks) August 19, 2018
But, someone was quick to point out that in a photograph posted of the VMA’s seating arrangements–Nicki Minaj was set to sit directly in front of Travis and Kylie.
You telling me tomorrow night Nicki is going to sit that close to Travis & Kylie after the mess that’s happening right now.. Ariana girl run pic.twitter.com/z3E4FbAL7b
— dreã ⌲ (@buteracypher) August 19, 2018
Obviously, Travis and Kylie don’t want to ruin their night out on the town without their baby on their side by dealing with petty drama–but fans were waiting anxiously to see if some beef would pop off during the show.
Blake lively watching the Nicki-Travis drama at the vmas pic.twitter.com/7XGewUbrBD
— Luis⚜️ (@laurenjauraki) August 20, 2018
I’m literally only watching the VMAs tonight to see the awkward shots of nicki sitting right in front of travis scott and kylie
— joey (@jlag191) August 20, 2018
Just a friendly reminder that Ariana, Nicki, Travis Scott, and Kylie Jenner are all sitting next to each other at the VMAs ☕ pic.twitter.com/wd9a7o2ScP
— Noah ? (@greedyforari__) August 19, 2018
It turns out, these fans are going to be heavily disappointed, because TMZ reports that Travis and Kylie have changed their seats for the show–being put on the opposite side of the hall from Nicki.
According to the report, Travis and Kylie were moved closer to Cardi B instead of sitting by Nicki Minaj. And, while it is probably because of the Twitter drama, TMZ says that the producers think that Travis should be sitting in the same row as Nicki–seeing as his album is number one.
But, thanks to the Twitter detectives we love so much, we now know that Nicki and Cardi are beefing a bit, too. The two have had their fair share of drama over the years and now, the drama is getting pretty heated. And, with Travis and Cardi sitting close and comfortable with each other–maybe there will be some drama.
cardi and nicki unfollowed each other on ig and travis moved his seats that were close to nicki to be close to cardi… maybe we WILL be tuning in for the vmas tonight after all
— ale (@daurendelivers) August 20, 2018
Tune in to find out, y’all.