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Nicki Minaj's verbal onslaught against Jay-Z in light of the Super Bowl headliner controversy continues as Minaj recently claimed Jay-Z never compensated her for the Tidal streaming service deal. In 2015, Jay-Z introduced a new streaming service called Tidal, in which artists like Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Madonna, and Beyoncé were listed as partial owners.
In March 2021, Jay-Z sold Tidal to Jack Dorsey's mobile payment firm Block (formerly known as Square). Dorsey is the co-founder of X, formerly known as Twitter. In a comment under DJ Akademik's TikTok about the Super Bowl debate, Minaj claimed she didn't receive "one red penny" from the sale.
"I didn't even get one red penny when no one promoted it more than me outside of Beyoncé. lol chi," Minaj commented.
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Jay-Z bought Tidal in 2015
Jay-Z purchased Tidal (formerly known as Aspiro) in 2015 in partnership with other artists for $56 million. The audio and video streaming platform was reportedly meant to offer high-quality music with higher paid royalties for artists. The service also promised to sign an exclusive deal with artists to release their music on Tidal before it was made available on other streaming platforms.
Tidal was meant to be a direct competitor to Spotify. However, the streaming service offered no free version, proposing a nominal fee of $9.99 per month and $19.99 for high-definition audio. Tidal suffered heavy losses every quarter, and in 2020, its membership was at 2.1 million, as opposed to Spotify's 138 million user base.
The streaming service was also outperformed by Apple Music with its 60 million subscribers and Amazon Music with 55 million subscribers. In 2021, Jay-Z and Block struck a deal that led to Jack Dorsey purchasing Tidal and the rapper becoming a board member at Block Inc.
It is unclear exactly how much Block paid to purchase Tidal due to conflicting reports. According to Reuters, Block agreed to pay "$396 million in stock and cash for an 87.5% stake." After negotiations, the final price came to $237.3 million for an 86.2% stake. However, some reports claim Block spent $306 million on Tidal, while others said Block paid $297 million.
Following the sale, Tidal's co-owners, including Rihanna, Madonna, and Beyoncé, retained their stakes and became the second-largest shareholders in the company. The deal also faced a class-action lawsuit when a Block pension shareholder alleged the company "breached their fiduciary duties" by purchasing Tidal, which they claimed was failing. A Delaware judge dismissed the lawsuit in May 2023.
Nicki Minaj called out Jay-Z for snubbing Lil Wayne for the Super Bowl show
Nicki Minaj came to bat for Lil Wayne after it was announced that Kendrick Lamar would headline the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime show in New Orleans. On September 8, the decision was made public by Lamar and Roc Nation, the entertainment company founded by Jay-Z that was hosting the 2025 Super Bowl along with Apple Music and the NFL.
Nicki Minaj and several other Lil Wayne supporters called out Jay-Z for his perceived slight against the New Orleans rapper, claiming it was disrespectful to have another rapper perform in his hometown.
"Denying a young black man what he rightfully put into this game for no other reason but your ego. Your hatred for BIRDMAN, Drake & Nicki got you punishing Lil Wayne?!?!!! LIL WAYNE!!!!!!!!!! THE GOAT?!!!!!!!!!!! Nola what’s good?!!!!!! Eminem stood firm on having 50Cent come out. A white man. S**t sad. House N****R TINGZ. but it’s GOOD FI DEM!!!!!!! No loyalty ? Welp. then n****z will keep son’ing you!!!!!" Minaj tweeted.
Drake also joined in on the debate, silently showing his support by liking one of Minaj's tweets that was cross-posted on Instagram. Minaj also extolled the good that Lil Wayne has done for the culture, criticizing people for disrespecting rap legends.
"God forbid if Wayne was to leave this earth right now, the culture would be in mourning. That’s why so many ppl keep saying to give our legends their flowers while they are still around to smell them," she wrote in a follow-up post on X.
She also clarified she had no feud with Kendrick Lamar, adding that the Compton rapper also loved and respected Wayne.
Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar is set to headline the Super Bowl halftime show on February 9, 2025. The rapper also released a new song on September 11, with fans eagerly anticipating a new album.
