--- title: Nicki Minaj Calls Out Cultural Appropriation at NYFW description: Nicki Minaj took the fashion industry to task for cultural appropriation when she performed at Phillip Plein's SS18 show at NYFW. canonical: https://time.com/4936550/nicki-minaj-on-cultural-appropriation-nyfw/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-11T21:25:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:50:31.778Z og:title: Nicki Minaj Calls Out Cultural Appropriation at NYFW og:description: "Designers get really big and really rich off of our culture" og:url: https://time.com/4936550/nicki-minaj-on-cultural-appropriation-nyfw/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ac9bef03f45e423/6988dd43196cf40240041df9/nicki-minaj-phillip-plein-nyfw.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: 2017 Harper's Bazaar Icons og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nicki Minaj Calls Out Cultural Appropriation at NYFW twitter:description: "Designers get really big and really rich off of our culture" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ac9bef03f45e423/6988dd43196cf40240041df9/nicki-minaj-phillip-plein-nyfw.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Nicki Minaj Calls Out Designers For Cultural Appropriation During Fashion Week > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=299d84c7-036e-43bd-9801-4b04d4742f79&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME 100: Nicki Minaj [Watch (HLS stream): TIME 100: Nicki Minaj](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TPuz6I2B.m3u8) (2:41)  _Published 2017-05-08. MONEY_  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 11, 2017 9:25 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 11, 2017 9:25 PM UTC While the [fashion industry has made more of an effort towards inclusion](http://time.com/4579222/iman-bethann-mentorship/) in recent years, that doesn’t mean that there still isn’t ample room for improvement, a sentiment that was shared candidly by [Nicki Minaj ](http://time.com/4684737/nicki-minaj-remy-ma-rap-feud/)during Phillip Plein’s Spring/Summer 2018 runway show on Saturday night at [New York Fashion Week.](http://time.com/4930562/gloria-steinem-huma-abedin-nyfw-prabal-gurung/) The “[No Frauds](http://time.com/4698071/nicki-minaj-remy-ma-diss-track/)” rapper, who performed at the after-party for Plein, took designers and the industry at whole to task for [benefitting from black culture without valuing or including the communities where it originated](http://motto.time.com/4501037/cultural-appropriation-marc-jacobs-dreadlocks/). “Thank you, Philipp Plein, for including our culture,” Minaj said. “Designers get really big and really rich off of our culture, and then you don’t see a motherf–ker that look anything like us in the front row half the time. So let’s make some noise for Philipp Plein tonight.” Along with Minaj, Future, Rae Sremmurd, Yo Gotti, and 21 Savage, also performed at the runway show that opened with a Dita Von Teese striptease and ended with the dancing talents of “Fade” star and Kanye protegeé Teyana Taylor. This isn’t the first time that Plein’s show has generated buzz off-the-runway either; at his show last season, tongues wagged when [Whoopi Goldberg offered to sit nest to Tiffany Trump after editors refused](http://motto.time.com/4673173/whoopi-goldberg-tiffany-trump-nyfw/). ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I think before I could remember wanting to do anything else, I knew I wanted to be in charge. [ MUSIC ] As a child my mother didn't have a job where she was the boss. And I always looked at that and wished that she was the boss and that she did make her own rules. So from very early on I felt like you know what, whatever I do one day, I want to be more in charge. Of my business. Two of the things that I wanted to leave behind was that I like my own raps. A man doesn't have to write down your thoughts. You're intelligent enough to write down your own thoughts. And number two, I would become a mogul. It's Nicki Minaj, dirty money how let you girl. Thanks for the love, I really do appreciate Appreciate it. I exceeded every expectation, I think, people had for a rapper. I think black women are held to higher standards. A lot of pop culture takes from black culture and, oftentimes, doesn't really say they got it from black culture. Magazines are acting like they're just being done for the first time because it's on a white woman's head or it's on a white woman's body. And you have to Get used to living in a world that doesn't even acknowledge that you did certain things. It's Hood Fierce and Nicki Minaj. One thing I learned along the way in business is the necessity for you to be unapologetic about asking for how much money you deserve. At a very early stage in my rap career I was making six figures. For shows. If I heard there was another rapper making that, I thought, you know what, I get out there and command a crowd. I get out there and make my fans happy. I want that too. And I think women have the tendency to feel that they shouldn't ask to be compensated as much as man doing the same exact thing. If you know you're great at what you do Don't ever be ashamed to ask for the top dollar in your field. [ MUSIC ] I actually remixed Flawless with Beyonc ��. Whenever I do something with her, I can feel the impact. It just feels like young women are being empowered and inspired. Because I think it says a lot when you see two young women at the top of their [ UNKNOWN ] whether they're black or white. It just means a lot when you see them owning who they are. And owning the business. And owning the industry. Not taking no for an answer and not being apologetic for who they are. I think that it inspires women. Young, old, black, white, whatever. 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