Nicki Minaj Postpones North American Tour Dates
UPDATE: Nicki Minaj clarified Wednesday in a lengthy Instagram post that, contrary to the phrasing of various reports, she didn’t “cancel” her North American tour with Future. The “NickiHndrxx” jaunt was previously scheduled to launch September 21st in Baltimore, Maryland, but the rapper delayed the leg of that tour until May 2019 in order to refine production elements.
“I haven’t CANCELLED anything,” Minaj wrote. “I reversed the order of the US & EUROPEAN LEGS of my tour. This is for obvious reasons to anyone with a brain … My album was originally going to drop in June which would’ve given me 3 months of tour rehearsal. However, I was still writing & recording up to last week … I can’t rehearse 4 WEEKS for a tour I originally planned on rehearsing 3 months for. I give my fans QUALITY. I write & co produce my own music. Therefore, I can’t rehearse while I’m WRITING & RECORDING my album.”
Minaj has not announced the rescheduled 2019 dates but added she’s “working on a M&G experience for the tour & will update [fans] ASAP.”
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Nicki Minaj has postponed her previously announced North American tour with Future. A statement from Live Nation notes that Minaj “has decided to reevaluate elements of production on the ‘NickiHndrxx Tour'” following her surprise performance Monday at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards. The postponement follows unverified reports of low ticket sales.
The jaunt was set to launch September 21st in Baltimore, Maryland – less than two months after the release of Minaj’s long-awaited fourth LP, Queen. The North American leg will now kick off in May 2019, though no dates have been announced as of this writing; due to scheduling conflicts, Future will not participate.
The tour will now launch in February with a previously announced European run. Refunds for the nixed North American dates will be available at point of purchase, and Minaj will announce new on-sale dates soon.
Minaj recently blasted a variety of targets – including Travis Scott and streaming services – after Queen lost its release week battle for Number One album to Scott’s Astroworld. “I put my blood sweat and tears in writing a dope album only for Travis Scott to have [his girlfriend] Kylie Jenner post a tour pass telling ppl to come see her & [her daughter] Stormi,” she tweeted after her LP fell 20,000 album-equivalent units short of the Billboard 200’s top spot. “I’m actually laughing. #Queen broke the record of being number 1 in 86 countries.”