Nicki Minaj’s Twisted Roman Ritual at Last Night’s Grammy Awards
NOTE: Is there an insider ‘nudge, nudge, wink, wink’ about Minaj’s red carpet walk last night, escorted by ‘The Pope’? Given the news two days ago that someone inside the Vatican predicts that the Pope will die within a year, perhaps the ‘failed exorcism’ and the triumph of Satan at the end of the performance telegraph that a major shift is on its way.
It’s becoming a tradition for singers to bash the Catholic church at the Grammy Awards, but last night’s freak show turned up the volume to thirteen. The horrific music and demonic dancing seemed all the more inappropriate as the Music Industry was supposedly mourning the tragic death of Whitney Houston, who had died, according to a report at TMZ.com, of prescription drugs mixed with alcohol. The wild, Hollywood life had killed Houston, and Minaj’s sick idea of ‘exorcism’ and ribald/cross-dressing seemed highly inappropriate, but then Minaj doesn’t “play nice”.
The song featured in the video is from Minaj’s newest album, and it centered around her alter-ego, Roman Zolanski (an obvious tribute to the director of Rosemary’s Baby and husband to Charles Manson victim Sharon Tate: Roman Polanski). In fact, the Trinidad-born Onika Tanya Maraj (her real name) claims to have numerous ‘alter-egos’, including ‘Cookie’, Harajuku Barbie, Nicki Teresa, Rosa, and Nicki Minaj. Roman Zolanksi also has a ‘mother’ named Martha Zolanski.
Ironically, Minaj bears a tattoo on her left arm in Chinese letting that translates to ‘God is always with you’. Many of these alters joined her as a child, when she struggled to find peace in a household filled with drugs, violence, and constant fighting. She claims that ‘fantasy is her reality’.
Onika Maraj appears to have all but disappeared–at least onstage–so the public rarely sees the real person. Sadly, last night, Grammy watchers were horrified by Roman Zolanski’s appearance in a story that began with a film and ended with a live, failed ‘exorcism’. Whether or not Maraj is trying to tell us that she is the victim of ritual child abuse and that it caused her to split into multiple personalities is up for grabs. Russ Dizdar would have a field day with the video and Onika’s story. The real girl with ‘God is always with you’ must be in there somewhere, but the ‘god’ who is running her life is certainly not Jesus Christ.
The short film that opens the act shows a concerned white woman who asks a white Catholic priest to go upstairs and help her son Roman. The priest enters the bedroom to find ‘Roman’ (Minaj behaving crazily, wearing a cheap blond wig and a dress, singing ‘I feel pretty’). When confronted by the priest, Roman scrambles up the wall and hisses from the ceiling and whispers ‘You don’t belong here.” The priest asks the ‘demon’ his name. It screams ‘Roman!’
This sets up the remainder of the performance, live onstage. The set features a backdrop of massive, stained glass windows and Roman columns. Minaj is tied to a sacrificial altar in the center, high above the dancers. The song (‘Roman Holiday’ – lyrics here) is hideous, disjointed, jerky, and filled with slams at the Catholic church. The song presents an angry ‘man’ who just wants to ‘feel pretty’ without being judged by the church or by his family. Roman refuses to leave or change, implying instead that the church needs to conform to his view of the world (I want them outlawed, now get ‘em a goatee – indicating Baphomet).
The choreography features Satanic priests and monks (male and female) and two young acolytes (who look confused, particularly when demonic woman entice them). As the priest from the film enters the live performance, a choir sings a twisted version of ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’. Christians in the audience, who had not already walked out, should have run for the exits at this point in protest. Minaj has free will to hate the church and Christians, but we don’t have to endorse her perverse blasphemy by applauding when she’s done!
At the end, the stained glass windows shatter, unable to withstand the onslaught of Satan.’Roman’ levitates toward the ceiling, making it clear that the exorcism has failed. Satan triumphs. Nude demons writhe like snakes on the stage as the song ends.
I could only bear to watch this awful video twice, so I’m sure there is much symbolism I missed, so forgive me for not getting into more detail. What is the message here? Obviously, Minaj and many other artists who blaspheme God and openly praise Lucifer/Satan want to shock their audiences. Some might say that it’s all an act, that these are stage personae, not to be confused with the real person and his/her beliefs. It’s easy to blame the performer, but the blame must go much farther. Minaj has been ‘handled’ all along her rise to fame, and she is being used to program her fans with Satanic desires and hatred for Christ. Parents, take a look at your children’s music. Read the lyrics and look at the images on the CD artwork. Be discerning, dear friends. The enemy seeks to devour our children and turn them from Christ to Satan. We must be diligent–and we must never turn a blind eye to their tastes. Yes, children have free will to choose just as you and I do, but parents much help them learn to choose wisely. How can we help them if we have no idea what their world is like?
(Here’s a link to the video, if you can stand to watch it!)
http://sharonkgilbert.com/?p=1752
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