12 Shocking Music Videos You Won't Believe Actually Exist

3. Nicki Minaj - Only

The animated lyric video for Nicki Minaj's Only, directed by Jeff Osborne, is one of those pieces of "art" that simply makes you shake your head in disbelief. Released around the time of the 25th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it is effectively an aesthetic celebration of various Nazi symbols and images. Yes, that's right. A music video by arguably the biggest female rap star of the 2010s is comprised of various Nazi images. Nicki Minaj basically commands an army of SS officers wearing Nazi armbands. She even has her own swastika "parody" based around her initials. Of course, the usual defences were thrown out. Many artists have used Nazi imagery, from punks to industrial musicians. Drake is Jewish and he's involved with the song. It's inspired by conspiracy writers and artists. All of which is well and good... Except this isn't just a reappropriation or reclaiming of Nazi imagery. It's equating Minaj, as a swastika-donning leader of her own SS, with Nazi power. It's utterly stupid, and was unsurprisingly condemned by Minaj herself once the inevitable controversy broke out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU769XX_dIQ