Jasmine Mans never expected that the heartfelt poem she delivered to an adoring campus crowd would land her in the national spotlight in less than a month. On Oct. 16, the UW-Madison student performed for a crowded Memorial Union Theater. An experienced spoken word artist, Mans conducted audience reactions with a profound command of content and delivery mixed with a captivating pop-culture topic: Nicki Minaj. After being posted on YouTube, the performance accumulated over 100,000 views within its first week.
The catalyst to the poem's view count success was the coverage it received on www.allhiphop.com followed by a landslide of promotion from other blogs credible within the national hip hop community. Success wouldn't be the word on this poet's tongue after reading the first blog post a mere three days after uploading her video, though.
In an interview with The Daily Cardinal, Mans described her disappointment upon seeing the first headline on Allhiphop.com, ""Shots Fired: Poet Disses Nicki Minaj."" To her, the words were a gloomy sign that her poem was misinterpreted and falsely advertised to Internet audiences as a ""diss"" to the mainstream artist. In actuality, Mans' poem critiques the image Minaj marketed herself with during her rise in mainstream hip-hop. Mans acknowledged headlines often build the premise for readers' expectations and perspective before they experience the piece. As a fan of Minaj, she became concerned for how that misinterpretation would be perpetuated.
The most overlooked aspect of Mans' poem is that the text empowers Minaj with phrases like ""you are a queen"" and ""your existence is not recyclable."" The headline influence causes many bloggers to ignore those statements in search for signs of disrespect.
""By no means am I a disser,"" Mans said, ""I am too big of a fan, woman and intellectual to diss Nicki Minaj.""
All three of those factors are present in her aim behind the poem.
""My intention was to hold Nicki Minaj accountable,"" Mans explained. ""She is the face of black women in the industry … she needs to take on her responsibility.""
The poem itself serves a dual purpose: A dare for Minaj to be a ""three-dimensional role model"" and a warning of the media's potential grip on her image. ""They will Lauryn Hill you,"" Mans said in her poem. This reference to the female hip hop icon that dropped out of the public eye parallels Minaj's possible downfall at the hands of the media. Mans' distress lingers on the thought that prominent artists of color have had further potential beyond succumbing to untimely career collapses. The dare's ultimate goal is to legitimize Minaj beyond just her presence within the hip-hop spotlight.
Consequently, Minaj's relevance in the public eye is reflected through the uneven attention that Mans' poems have received. Her poem about Michelle Obama received significantly fewer views than the Minaj poem despite being uploaded on the same day. Mans found this a troubling example of society's sense of priority. ""This is what the world chooses to highlight, critique, and judge,"" Mans said.
Despite the viral popularity of her Minaj poem, Mans doesn't want any piece of hers to be valued higher than anything else she creates. She continues to perform her other poems at events, including a recording for BET's ""The Mo'Nique Show"" airing on Nov. 15. Mans maintains a humbleness behind her rush of exposure by estimating she faces a tiny fraction of the media's attention that Minaj receives daily. The poem continues to earn Mans daily YouTube comments, interview requests and even death threats from those still misinterpreting her work.
In response to the continuing hate and misunderstandings about her poem, Mans wrote on her website, www.Jasminemans.com. She mentioned her limitations in how much she can do to defend her public image because, ""At the end of the day, I'm a student. I still have to do my homework. I still have to do community service. I just have to be a student before any of this.""
