Fear them.
Nicki Minaj fans are sticking by their queen.
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The other person doesnt even notice, but this woman clocks the disrespect.
You aint a Barb, she says mostly to herself as she hobbles along the pavement.
You an ugly bitch.
Minaj went live on Instagram insulting Megan and making wisecracks about her late mother.
The Barbz took it a step further, threatening to deface and vandalize Megans mothers grave.
So suffice to say it isnt the best time to be a Barb.
And there is perhaps no star who interacts directly with their fans as much as Minaj.
Lately, attention around standom in general has reached a new fever pitch.
Is all this energy worth it?
Could a Nicki Minaj show be so spectacular that it inspires this level of ugly, terrifying fealty?
Her sister is crying theyre going to miss the show.
Hes here with his friend and former babysitter Teresa Brennan, 24.
She snaps at him to cut it out when he gawks too long at a man walking by.
Youre not old enough, Brennan says.
DiMaria bats his long eyelashes.
DiMaria identifies as a Barb and nothing less.
A fucking Barb is the one that defends Nicki Minaj no matter what.
A Barb is there 24/7 for the queen.
He delivers these words like a pledge of allegiance.
I hang my Barb flags on my camp bunk at my autistic summer camp.
Every year, since he was, like, 13.
Fans shared AI-generated art of a futuristic all-pink world, waiting for Minaj to gag them with the record.
I ask Barbz what Gag City is.
(Why no Grammys?
Some Barbz consider this nothing short of a conspiracy against the queen.)
1), her online rants and complicated personal life appear to have irreversibly impacted how shes perceived.
Whatever Gag City is, getting there is expensive.
Those flights and tickets and new outfits arent cheap: The concert experience is costing John around $3,000.
It sounds crazy, he concedes.
This show isnt just a chance to see Minaj perform.
Everyone should know how well he knows these words.
This isnt just Tapicans first Minaj concert; its her first live show ever.
Saunches is doing what a lot of men here are doing playing Ken to all these Barbies.
The Nicki fervor, he says, is far louder in person than he understood from afar.
People are actually ride or die, he says.
I spent $3k!
You cant be coming out late and stuff.
As soon as it hit eight, you gotta be there!
No one knows the guy.
Theyre all gonna be like, Sex offender?
Maybe hes actually a great guy but he fucked up 20 years ago.
DiMaria doesnt want to talk about Petty, but Brennan does.
Hes not great, she says, wincing.
DiMaria takes a few steps back from me and my recorder.
You gotta take that out, he says.
Nicki sees this interview, shes not going to be hugging me.
Theyll find your family.
They did it before.
Theyll do it again.
A lot of these Barbz are still listening to Cardi and Meg just quietly.
What if someone hears them?
What does a citizens arrest look like in Gag City?
The only two good reasons to stop being a Barb?
She would never, Brennan says to DiMaria, who nods deeply.
Marcjanik says not even cannibalism would stop him from being a Minaj fan.
Shed have to kill her baby, Debie Silpa, 54, told me.
If she cuss someone out, I dont care.
They probably deserve it.
I think shes very gentle inside.
We dont put up with no shit either.
She raps almost every word, rarely using a backing track.
(Her guest, Fivio Foreign, did his entire minutes-long performance with one.)
Her performance is crisp and boisterous and funny and sexy.
She hurls T-shirts into the crowd with a velocity that you might reserve for a snowball fight.
(Sorry, she says absently when she hits someone in the face.)
The crowd loves being shit on by their queen.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for never leaving me, she tells them.
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