Nicki Minaj has returned with her latest album Pink Friday 2 to remind people who is the queen of rap. She recently released her single Press Play Ft Future which has sold over 1 million units already. This impactful release isn’t shocking for the Barbie queen or her fans Barbs but her album promotions heavily dependent on AI are another story.
Nicki Minaj depends on AI marketing for Pink Friday 2
If you have surfed the internet during the holiday season or the past week then you must have crossed roads with “Gag City.” If you haven’t then allow me to break a phenomenal pop culture event to you.
Welcome to #GagCity’s Wizarding School of the Gifted 🪄 🌙✨ pic.twitter.com/nLZUpDP4KM
— sekhmet barbie (@SistaSekhmet) January 10, 2024
For the promotions of her upcoming album the Trinidadian rapper and singer opened the gates of Gag City for her fans. Basically, she entrusted the creation of the pink AI world to her fans and the LGBTQ+ community on platform X (former Twitter).
This led to a creative outburst from her fans, who built fancy towers, people, and planes all ruled by Minaj. They also started to create their AI-generated cityscapes for the promotion of her album.
New Gag City @NICKIMINAJ pic.twitter.com/fRG9Nwr08c
— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) December 8, 2023
As the promotions began to pick up pace and space on the platform many brands began to join in the trend including the Empire State Building which created a pink version of the iconic landmark especially for the AI city.
Pros of Nicki Minaj’s iconic Gag City
It is fair enough to say that Pink Friday 2‘s promotions became a monumental event with Gag City. The shade of pink which is returning as the color of power and feminism after the success of Barbie added to the raging momentment.
A little over 24 hours left until the Gag City State of The Roman Address. pic.twitter.com/c2Cs3QsdPv
— 𝕁𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕕 (@JAWAD_PF2) January 9, 2024
The AI city also seamlessly provided fans opportunities to engage in the promotions and eventually take it over with their creative inputs. The excellence of this idea is that it broadened the promotions’ reach as more fans engaged in it.
Furthermore, it has been proven that netizens are more likely to react and engage with something that is shared by their oomfs. This occurs because stumbling upon a trend provides an organic feeling of discovering something and joining the crew as opposed to consuming it directly from the creator alone.
nicki minaj addresses the citizens of gag city prior to the inauguration tonight pic.twitter.com/sfC964ly7o
— Xeno👾 (@AClDBLEEDER) December 7, 2023
This type of marketing is becoming an integral part of the music industry as more and more artists attempt to make their art go viral through its catchy chorus, TikTok challenges, or other promotions similar to the AI city.
Cons of AI-generated art for promotions
While the idea of Pink Friday 2‘s promotions was excellent the incorporation of AI didn’t sit well with many netizens. They came off unsettling, especially after Hollywood strikes which centered around the dangers of AI on writers and actors.
You know what I realized about Ai images in your marketing? It sends out the message that you've got no budget. It's the digital equivalent of wearing an obviously fake Chanel bag. Your whole brand immediately appears feeble and impoverished https://t.co/StZh0xntcg
— Del Walker 🇵🇸 (@TheCartelDel) January 13, 2024
One can not ignore that the mass generation and consumption of AI images made people more accepting of AI art, which is often criticized for stealing from artists and making silly mistakes such as drawing extra fingers. Nicki herself has expressed her shock at the technology when someone created a track using an AI-generated voice of her and Tom Holland.
Therefore, it was wild to experience AI-backed promotions and their immense success in promoting a reputable singer’s art which one can debate doesn’t require AI for going viral. Yet Minaj seems to enjoy this theme as she continued to use it for promoting her latest single.
this is so… pic.twitter.com/nLTNgzv77B
— pop culture gal (@allurequinn) January 14, 2024
So much so that she didn’t leave any stone unturned to criticize a fan by calling them obsessed and stalkerish for pointing out six fingers in one of the promotional images. She also continued to accuse anyone who criticized her AI art as a “paid mole” and anti who was trying to bring her down.
Keeping the Twitter wars aside, the AI art for Press Play lacked the creative and fresh impact of Gag City, which was created using fan contribution. The images themselves gave a sense that they were created using poor technology due to their simplicity and mistakes. It also reminded people the importance of investing in good graphic designers, and creative directors.
The AI gag city concept imploded in our faces. Barbz laid a good foundation and made gold out of dust, but it should’ve been followed up with trailers, shoots, and videos of nicki actually in “gag city”.pic.twitter.com/KxEJh6bXja
— Banjee Barbie 💋 (@BoujeeNBanjee) January 14, 2024
Additionally, the success of Pink Friday 2 and Press Play backed by the magnanimous input of AI marketing, as much as star’s talent, opens doors for other artists to settle with poor AI images rather than creative campaigns including efforts and visions of an artistic team- which is a downgrade.
