Whatcha Say: Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj And The Idolator Floppy Awards Got Our Readers Talking

Rachel Sonis | August 22, 2014 5:30 pm

Happy Friday, Idolator readers! Are you ready for your pop knowledge quiz? Let’s review what happened this week, shall we?

All eyes were on Taylor Swift as the country-pop diva held a Yahoo live-stream to reveal details about her fifth studio album 1989, which will be released in October. Tay also premiered her Max Martin/Shellback-produced single “Shake It Out” as well as the track’s dorky video. What’s more, Nicki Minaj dropped her jungle-themed, sweaty and ass-tastic visual for “Anaconda,” Scottish beatsmith Calvin Harris previewed a clip of “Blame” with British crooner John Newman, and Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett shared their tracklist for their jazz album, Cheek To Cheek.

Here on Idolator, we premiered Benny Benassi’s latest single “Shooting Helicopters” with System of a Down’s Serj Tankian and, in lieu of the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, held our first-ever glamour-filled Idolator Floppy Awards.

As always, you guys had plenty to say. Read the week’s best comments below!

:: Theo was not happy about Paul McCartney collaborating with Kanye West on Kanye And Paul McCartney Are Reportedly Working On A Track Called “Piss On My Grave”: Morning Mix: “Ah Paul…WHY? What’s next? A duet with Kim? Maybe Justin Bieber?”

:: VeronicaVixen loves that Lady Gaga is a risk-taker and is always ahead of the curve on Lady Gaga And Tony Bennett’s “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”: Listen & See Their Tracklist: ” Gaga, always 5 steps ahead of the pack. While everyone is trying to put out edm now, Gaga is onto bigger and better things! Love the chances she’s taking. Like Cyndi told her, take no prisoners!”

:: Eric wasn’t surprised to see Nicki shaking it on Nicki Minaj’s NSFW “Anaconda” Video Delivers On Boobs, Ass, Twerking, Lapdances & Semi-Nudity: The Desperation Is Real: It’s funny seeing all the hate and even surprise over this video because of it’s raunchy nature. Um…was everyone asleep when the single cover came out? And the fact that the song samples “Baby Got Back” not also enough of what was to come? What was everyone expecting? Nicki in a ball gown holding hands with some guy and being romantic?”

:: Sam Scarcello was impressed by Ariana Grande’s latest tunes on Ariana Grande Streams 4 Songs From ‘My Everything’: Listen To “Why Try,” “A Little Bit Of Your Heart,” “Be My Baby” & “Love Me Harder”: “This is great stuff. Arguably better than the singles she’s put out thus far. Far less dependent on current trends. Not bad.”

:: Sean Mac compared Nicole Scherzinger‘s “On The Rocks” single cover on Nicole Scherzinger Reveals Eye-Popping “On The Rocks” Single Cover: “I’m reminded of Millie Jackson’s “Back to the Sh**” album cover. Someone PLEASE put Nicole on stage in a West End show. It’s the only place I see her connecting with an audience. //bit.ly/YxDPoo

:: Justin had the hots for that Calvin Harris on Shirtless Calvin Harris Takes Ice Bucket Challenge & It’s A Pec-Filled Sight To Behold: Watch: “He sure is purty to look at.”

:: As if that wasn’t enough, davidask posed a rather interesting question about the video: “Hot damn! Did they blur out his pubes?”

:: Gretchen Weiners thought Earl Sweatshirt’s comments lacked relevance on Earl Sweatshirt Is Not Impressed By Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” Video: See His Tweets: “Um, what valid points did he make? He admits he didn’t even watch the video. The guy’s a joke just looking for relevance.”

:: Adam preferred Mariah Carey’s “Shake It Off” to Taylor’s on Taylor Swift’s New Album Is Called ’1989′ & Other Amazing Revelations From Her Yahoo Livestream: “Uh… I’ll take Mariah’s “Shake It off” over this.”

:: Barley Blair provided thoughtful commentary regarding “cultural appropriation” on Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”: Review Revue: “In the 70s, Harvard Lampoon joked about the ‘magnificence of blackness.’ It was an attempt to point out the tendency of Afro-centric thinkers and their supporters to suggest black culture was exclusive, untouchable, and special–reserved for respect and appreciation; but off-limits to non-blacks. That’s the definition of ‘appropriation.’Criticisms of racism in the use of visual pop cues exploited by both black and non-black performers is, inherently, racist/racially supremacist and hypocrisy of the worst sort. It serves to reinforce differences, breed resentment, and foment conflict where there should be none. It is appropriate to invoke the problems highlighted in MO this past week. But it is also important to point out that much of the injury that has been caused began with the unintentional (I believe) consequence of such narrow- and short-sighted cultural territoriality and the divide it has engendered.”

:: Anthony Gilbert Aragon, on the other hand, begged to differ: “Thats so stupid, people are actually complaining about the black female dancers. People need to start realizing that if any dancers in general who are black, white, asian, gay, straight, whatever don’t want to be in a music video, stage performance, or whatever due to it being racist or demorilizing they don’t have to be in it they have a choice. Why fight and waste your breathe about something that’s not even in the least sense plausible.”

:: And finally, Sean came to Taylor’s defense as well on Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” Director Responds To Earl Sweatshirt’s “Uninformed” Criticism: “Totally. I’m not a Taylor Swift fan, but I can tell you that this video is about being yourself. It’s in no way meant to show Taylor mocking the dancers, but to show that she doesn’t fit in to any mold and never will. She’s being herself and encouraging others to do the same. Honestly, it seems like people have been on one with the notion of “cultural appropriation.” It’s like the world just caught wind of this phrase for the first time and is deciding to pin it on anything that even mildly resembles it.”