Barring the fact that Chun-Li is a street fighting character that Nicki Minaj has of late chosen to adopt in sort of the same way the Marina and the Diamonds did with the persona of Electra Heart or Alex Turner as a creepoid architect of a sinister hotel, there doesn’t seem to be much other good reason (according to the public) for her to have taken a shine to the adoption of the “Asian aesthetic” of late. While she has Indonesian and Chinese “descent” going back a few generations, this claim is kind of likenable to the case that set off Plessy vs. Ferguson in the Supreme Court. In any event, the furor spurred anew by the “concept art” for “Chun-Li” has been reinvigorated by Minaj’s May 19th appearance on Saturday Night Live, in which, taking a page from Madonna (a woman she has taken many pages from of late), Minaj appeared with several backup dancers wearing rice hats, while she herself took the stage (after being introduced by Tina Fey, who wore a shirt that read annoyingly “La Femme est La Future”) in a glittering black kimono with two buns atop her head, one pierced with two crossed chopsticks (chopsticks, of course, are also called out in the lyrics). Just as Madonna did with her live performance of “Bitch I’m Madonna” (also featuring Minaj) during the Rebel Heart Tour, having an entire section devoted to Asian culture in the Drowned World Tour and, going even further back, the video for “Nothing Really Matters,” Minaj relies on Asian imagery and sartorial style as half of the artistic integrity of the track. Unfortunately, now even black women can’t “graft” that which is for Asians only. The piper of political correctness must be paid, and he’s not happy. Case in point, a firestorm of tweets that included such sentiments as, “I wouldn’t care as much about appropriation of Asian culture if Asian culture was represented in American culture by Asian actors more. Instead, it’s used as set dressing (and frequently fetishized). Nicki Minaj’s performance on @nbcsnl is a prime example.”
If this were a white man flanked by Asian women dancers, sure, one could call this a performance of the “fetishized.” Or if it was Gwen Stefani treating her L.A.M.B. lackeys like pets. But like everything, context is key, and it’s pretty clear in this instance that Minaj is not trying to appropriate, so much as wield a character of feminine strength and badass bitchery for the thematic purposes of her narrative (and to serve as a warning to Cardi B that she ain’t shit). But alas, this could be the end of the days when a non-white person could still get away with cultural appropriation (which is pretty much almost impossible to avoid when you’re a Kardashian). For once the masses have made up their minds to be offended, there is no turning back until a reputation-correcting biopic is released twenty years later.
