Travis Scott Moves Seat Away From Nicki Minaj at VMAs
Travis Scott and Nicki Minaj are playing musical chairs at the VMAs.
The Astroworld rapper was originally seated behind the Queen at tonight’s show, but there’s been a last-minute change in the seating arrangements. After Nicki’s tweets about Travis, he has moved to the opposite side of the room.
According to TMZ, the decision was made because Travis has the No. 1 album in the country and not out of fear for retaliation or a potential feud with Nicki.
The move comes after Nicki blasted Travis for inflating his sales by selling “season pass” ticket bundles for his upcoming tour. “Travis sold over 50K of these,” tweeted Nicki. “With no requirement of redeeming the album! With no dates for a tour, etc. I spoke to him. He knows he doesn’t have the #1 album this week.”
Travis sold over 50K of these. With no requirement of redeeming the album! With no dates for a tour, etc. I spoke to him. He knows he doesn’t have the #1 album this week. I love my fans for the #1 album in AMERICA! I’ll explain on #QueenRadio 4 albums in, #1 in 86 countries ♥️ pic.twitter.com/CiYEuczgm3
— QUEEN (@NICKIMINAJ) August 19, 2018
She also noted Kylie Jenner’s influence in boosting Travis’ numbers. “I put my blood sweat & tears in writing a dope album only for Travis Scott to have Kylie Jenner post a tour pass telling ppl to come see her & Stormi. lol. Im actually laughing. #Queen broke the record of being number 1 in 86 countries. Thank Jesus & thank you to my fans.”
Astroworld sold 205,000 equivalent album units in its second week, while Queen debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 185,000 units.
Travis wasn’t her only target. Nicki also called out Spotify for penalizing her after she debuted Queen during her Apple Music radio show. “Spotify had to teach me a lesson but rewarded the man who has had an Apple radio show the longest; inadvertently helping the Apple platform the most,” she tweeted. “My label didn’t want to defend me for fear of Spotify trying to teach Ariana a ‘lesson’ too.”
A representative for Spotify has responded to Nicki’s comments. “Spotify supported Nicki Minaj with a Times Square billboard, a host of the largest playlists, New Music Friday and the new music release shelf,” a rep for the streaming service tells Variety. “Her song ‘Bed’ actually saw an increase based on the promotions put behind the campaign. The company continues to be big fans of Nicki.”