NDG gossip: Nicki Minaj blames Walmart for low record sales

Nicki M.

By Kendria Brown, NDG Intern

Nicki Minaj’s album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded- The Re-Up was released on Nov. 19 and she already predicts that sales will not go so well with this one. Wal-Mart is to blame among the other large retailers of Target and Best Buy.

It would not be a surprise to Nicki if she did not do as well with this album because it is not available through the larger retail stores to her fans. Nicki says, “It’s hard to get the album because the stores basically said that the last few re-releases they had put out did not do well and they didn’t want to take a chance. So Target and Wal-Mart [are] not selling the album. And Target is actually my biggest retailer. They’ve sold the most Nicki Minaj albums ever. Thank you, Target, but I wish you could have sold this one.”

Her album has not made it to these stores, which is critical for album sales. “And then Best Buy only took limited [quantities] because they’re like ‘Oh, we don’t know, we want to play it safe.’ So … it kind of sets you up to fail”, insists Nicki.

How can the artist sell her albums if stores are not even providing the option for its customers?

In response to Nicki’s assertion, Wal-Mart says, “We do not carry any music that has a parental advisory label on it. However, we carry edited versions of those music titles. That album did not come with an edited option, so that’s why Wal-Mart isn’t carrying that album.”