Pink Friday is nearly a year old, and its biggest single, “Super Bass,” was a bonus track, but the Nicki Minaj album still has legs. Witness “Fly” (featuring Rihanna), the newly minted single whose video just premiered during the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show. A late-breaking entry in the “Music Video with a Message” pantheon (whether that brand-new VMA category will return in 2012 remains to be seen), “Fly” witnesses Minaj, first in her Bride of Frankenstein guise, then with a pink pixie haircut and white-rose-print-and-chiffon dress, then with leopard-print hair, and finally suited up in padded white garb to fight off hater-ninjas. The all-grey-everything airplane-fuselage landscape feels a little unreal, like she and Rihanna have wandered into the Resident Evil town somehow. Worry not, though: it gets better, as evidenced by the vines and flowers blooming by video’s end.
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Funny?we just told you about a provocateur of a previous generation taking issue with one from the current generation, and here we are again, telling you about a provocateuse of a previous generation taking issue with…you get the idea. Mel C, formerly of the Spice Girls, told The Daily Mirror yesterday that “Women in music, very successful women, are extremely sexual and they have young fans. It is inappropriate.” She singles out Rihanna (whom she considers “a f–king brilliant artist, with great songs [and] a great record”), probably because of controversy in the UK about “S&M,” and particularly its video.

Even on this topic Mel C can’t seem to make up her mind. She’s not clear on what makes the current controversy any different than those that surrounded the Spice Girls a decade and change ago, saying only that “although culture?s always changing, it?s changed too much.” She also says both that “Rihanna has responsibility” and that “Rihanna?s free to do as she pleases.”

We do understand and share Mel C’s concern regarding “over-sexualisation of young children” (she cites her daughter Scarlet as the motivating factor of this criticism) but we don’t believe that the buck necessarily stops with the pop stars themselves. Rihanna, in particular, seems very thoughtful about these issues, as she demonstrated in her Glamour interview. Even still, no parent can protect against everything in a hegemonic patriarchy.

Rihanna Is ‘Inappropriately Sexual’ According to Former Spice Girl Mel C [AOL Music]

[Image: Getty Images]

2009 Glamour Woman of the Year Rihanna returns to the magazine’s cover for Glamour‘s September 2011 issue?and she’s got plenty to say about today’s pop landscape, judging by the pullquotes that accompany the photo gallery on the magazine’s website. “There?s a pack. It?s me, Gaga, Katy Perry, Beyonc??who else? Ke$ha, for sure. Women are definitely dominating music right now, and that?s because we are competitive beings. I feel like music hasn?t been this exciting in a while.” She’s certainly not wrong about the female domination of pop, and aside from Britney, who guested on Rihanna’s “S&M” remix (and whom we’re sure Rihanna already regrets not mentioning), and Adele (who stands apart from the “pack” Rihanna describes) she pretty much has the usual suspects nailed down.

Speaking of “S&M,” Rihanna is also far enough in her career to speak to concerns of representation (particularly of sexuality) in public. “I want to set the right example and, at the same time, live my life,” she tells the magazine, possibly punning on “Live Your Life,” the T.I. song for which she provides the hook. “Pop stars can?t be rock stars anymore because they have to be role models, and it takes the fun out of it for us, because we just want to have fun with art.” And with fans, as our meet-and-gropegreet gallery illustrates. Clearly these playful interactions are just a small part of the ways in which Rihanna enjoys (and tests) the freedoms she enjoys at this stage in her life and career. Things weren’t always so carefree. She explains to Glamour: “In the beginning of my career, it was really strict for me. I couldn?t wear pink or red lipstick; it was just bizarre. We had a young fan base, and they were trying to keep me fresh. But I just really wanted to be myself. I wanted to be sassy, the attitude, all these things that I am.” Even now, a mild uproar over the not-actually-that-scandalous imagery in the video for “S&M” caused a bit of controversy for the artist, who felt that her expression was still being censored. (The copyright-infringement lawsuit brought by David LaChappelle is another matter entirely, and we don’t anticipate that she opened up to Glamour about that.)

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The 2011 VMA Nominations, revealed late last night, contained not a few surprises for pop music fans, many of whom flocked to Twitter (where #vmanominationfailure is still trending) or Wikipedia (where the 2011 VMAs entry is locked after hours of vandalism).

The loudest fanbase is that of Lady Gaga, who received three nominations (one for “Born This Way” and two for “Judas,” which the Little Monsters apparently prefer)?a pittance to these fans, especially in contrast to Katy Perry‘s nine and Adele‘s seven. The latter was more galling to the pop monsters, who after only a bit of Katy Perry slut-shaming moved on to “Adele is fat” jokes (or, more generously, “‘Rolling In The Deep’ is great but the video is boring” complaints). Britney Spears‘s and Rihanna‘s fans are also quite vocal about the two and zero nominations the artists got, respectively. (Rihanna is a featured artist on Eminem‘s three-times nominated?though not for Best Collaboration?”Love the Way You Lie” and Kanye West‘s four-times nominated “All of the Lights” but has no nominations for her own videos.)

Other much-observed snubs include Ke$ha (no nominations despite the eligibility of both “We R Who We R” and “Blow”), J. Cole for Best New Artist (with fans particularly surprised that Kreayshawn and Tyler, The Creator got nominated) and Jennifer Lopez‘s “On The Floor,” which, as our Song Of The Summer metrics have documented, has performed much better on YouTube than anywhere else.