September 21, 2024
Minaj took to social media to react to the news music label’s layoffs and referenced a lyric from Biggie Smalls to apply to UPS.
Grammy-nominated rapper Nick Minaj took some time from her Pink Friday 2 World Tour to throw shade toward news of Atlantic Records’ massive layoffs and recommended jobs at UPS, Billboard reports.
Minaj took to X to react to the news after it was announced that 10K Projects founder Elliot Grainge will take over as CEO of Atlantic Music Group starting Oct. 1. “Dear fired executives & A&R’s: Don’t be mad, UPS is hiring,” she wrote. “Also, feel free to submit your resumes for a job @ #HeavyOnIt.”
Dear fired executives & A&R’s:
Don’t be mad, UPS is hiring.
Also, feel free to submit your resumes for a job @ #HeavyOnIt. pic.twitter.com/yxay1l6gQP
In a follow-up tweet, Minaj seemingly highlighted that the label has been wanting her to fail.
“They’ve been wanting empty arenas so bad,” the rapper wrote, with the crying laughing emoji. “Obsessed with me while all your friends r getting fired is nasty work.”
In a memo to staff, Atlantic Records CEO Robert Kyncl said the company will “be unveiling a new dynamic structure for the label group.” Atlantic’s restructure will be labeled as the fourth round of cuts in the Warner Music Group family in approximately 18 months. According to TMZ, Minaj used the UPS reference to pay homage to a lyric from the late-rapper The Notorious B.I.G.’s infamous “Flava In Ya Ear (Remix).” In the song, he advised competing artists to get a day job delivering packages.
Warner Music was heavily in the news mid-September after veteran exec Kevin Liles abruptly stepped down from his role as chairman and CEO of 300 Entertainment on Sept. 17. While social media users tied his resignation to the charges against protege Sean “Diddy” Combs, Liles celebrated the stamp he made within the music industry in a memo to his staff. “The cultural impact we created in 10 years when starting from scratch is simply unmatched in the modern era,” Liles wrote.
“We transformed our value proposition – ‘mindset of independent, muscle of a major’ – into a model for the rest of the industry to chase in this new era of music. But if there’s one consistent in music and culture, it’s that change is inevitable,” he continued.
Minaj’s “Heavy On It” reference was a jab at her longtime label home, Republic Records, which also suffered layoffs in early 2024. As the Pink Friday artist has allegedly already started work on her new album, “Pink Friday 3,” it will be interesting to see how things play out.
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