Last week, spoken word poem Jasmine Mans released a poet that garnered her the adoration (and scorn) of the internet when the video virally spread across social networks and websites alike. In this exclusive editorial to AllHipHop.com, Mans explains, her poem “Nicki Minaj” (often called “The Mis-Education of a Barbie Doll”) was not a diss. It was a “dare.”A Dare.I do not want Nicki Minaj to be the next Lauryn Hill or MC Lyte, I want her to rap as if women like Assata Shakur and Toni Morrison exist.“The Miss-Education of a Barbie” is a call to action not only for Nicki Minaj but to all women in the entertainment industry.My poem targets Nicki Minaj because I am a long time fan and follower of her work. I recognize and applaud her lyrical abilities and the affect she has on women older and younger than myself. If we, as an audience, do not hold up a mirror to our artists, then who will?The “Miss-Education of a Barbie” questions the message that Nicki Minaj is relaying to her listeners. If Nicki Minaj seeks to simply entertain audiences with shallow concepts then my poem can be written off as irrelevant to her and her fans alike. However, if she seeks to make a difference in musical history and in the lives of her fans around the world then my piece questions her methods of doing so.Her “Barbie” image is an objectification of womanhood. How can we expect our male rappers to pay homage and respect to women when the voice that is representing us is tainted with sexual innuendos and “child’s play?”Most rappers say in response to this “look, I didn’t ask to be anyone’s role model, I am just doing me like always.” for Nicki, this isn’t true, she did ask to be famous. She engineered herself to be more marketable so that this could happen. Now that it happened, what will she do with that power? Will she be self-serving at the expense of her fans? Or will she be both entertaining, sexy and socially progressive for women? We don’t want the Nicki we know to go away, we want the Nicki we know to be 3 Dimensional.W.E.B. DuBois said all art is propaganda and should be used to uplift and challenge the African American community, and if art does not do such it is useless. Nicki Minaj is too powerful to be useless.My piece is not a “diss,” it is a dare.I dare Nicki Minaj to be a PHENOMENAL WOMAN and not a phenomenal “Barbie.”-Jasmine Mans
The original spoken word poem is below, along with the lyrics as well.
///////LYRICS///////You are being traded paper in exchange for you to be plasticAll Dolls will eventually mal-function(I don’t even know why you girls bother at this point like give it up, it ‘s me I win you lose)Nicki MInaj,(It’s me)I must admit(Its, its me)I have always been intrigued by your ass,I guess that’s what the world looked like after falling from your shoulders.(Like give it up)You have the heartbeat of a suicide bomber A baseline breathing out of your pulseYour thighs play storage for the weight of the worldI dreamed that you used to back packed, the lost raps, of Female MCs who could not find their way out the cipher(Its just like I singlehandedly annihilated like every rape b**ch in the building)Traded in your crown for unsharpened pencils and blank CDs(Like give it up)Do you ever feel a cord gripping on your neck, choke, spit?Don’t let this industry f**k the Assata out of you(Harijuku-Barbie)Can and will never be code for queenYou are a Queen no matter how many times they try to shuffle you back in tape decks.Bi Sex, straight, you’ve earned my respect(You da Bestest)But I know your spine binds and crooked linesAnd you can’t seem to write a rhyme for your broken daughtersSlaughter, bent over back, ass cracked, b#### slapped, in videosThere is nothing pedal bike pretty about brokenDo you know what this media is trying to do to you?They will porcelain(Barbie)Doll the s### out of youLeave you noose necked hanging from Zion they will Lauryn Hill youThe mis-education of a Barbie doll coming soon(I just had an epiphany)Barbie, I think NYC is making you forget you come from QueensIts scary when you have wack MCs trying to ghost write your obituary(You should buy a 16 cuz I write it good)Your existence is not recyclable to me(Barbie)Stop spitting me toy storiesOf Woodys and Buzzlight Years who only come alive when no body is watchingFake breastOnce upon a time before puberty and tissue filled training bras all little girls wanted a toy chestWhat do you treasure? *You have turned your G##### into a land-mindDirty, disgustingWe have been waiting centuries for a woman like you to carve your stiletto in historyThis microphone is not a d#### so you are going to have to c## a little harder than that,(I, win, I win, you lose)Come a little harder for rapToo many women before you have laid down tracks — UNIT…Y?So you wouldn’t have to record your on your backSpit some s### it for girls who kiss girls and got beat down to their backsWe will remember you for thatLips sync your screams and remember your inflections and copyright your rapsMC(Barbie)For young money anyone can buy themselves their own ( I’m Nick Minaj, Nicki Lewinski, Nicki Barbie, the boss)Crown, V#####, Womanhood, and Talent,All Sold separately(Barbie)You are being stabbed in the backInserted with a wind up string and a tag?(R, R, R, Roger that)
