BY TER STAFF

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Nicki Minaj addressed the chocking and death of Eric Garner by a NYPD officer and her opinion on why black artists sometimes choose not to speak out against racial injustices. Specifically Minaj cited the backlash Kanye West received after his famous “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” quote, when addressing a televised audience during the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“Why aren’t black celebrities speaking out more?’ But look what happened to Kanye when he spoke out. People told him to apologize to Bush! He was the unofficial spokesman for hip-hop, and he got torn apart. And now you haven’t heard him speaking about these last couple things, and it’s sad. Because how many times can you be made to feel horrible for caring about your people before you say, ‘**** it, it’s not worth it, let me live my life because I’m rich, and why should I give a ****?”

While of course we cannot confirm whether this is the reason West has been more quite on social issues (arguably he hasn’t, as 2013’s ‘New Slaves’ is one of the best conscious rap songs of the decade), it is an interesting take by Nicki. Read her full interview here at Rolling Stone.