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Nicki Minaj Blames Big Box Stores for Potentially Poor ‘Re-Up’ Sales

Nicki Minaj Target Walmart Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded The Re-Up

In a recent interview with New York’s Power 105.1, Nicki Minaj expressed concern that her latest Pink Friday installment wouldn’t be receiving the benefits of Black Friday sales at certain big box stores. Her Roman Reloaded — The Re-Up reissue came out on November 19, and while the numbers aren’t in yet, it seems the Young Money star may be bracing herself for low figures.

“It’s hard to get the album,” she told The Breakfast Club, “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 Walmart [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.”

Visit Target online and you’ll see that the two CD/DVD expansion of her platinum-certified April album is labeled “not sold in stores.” Search Walmart.com for “Nicki Minaj” and The Re-Up doesn’t show up at all. “And then Best Buy,” she added, “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.”

UPDATE: According to Walmart spokesperson Veronica Marshall, Minaj’s assertion about the reason behind the company’s snubbing of The Re-Up is off base. “We do not carry any music that has a parental advisory label on it,” said Marshall. “However, we carry edited versions of those music titles. That album did not come with an edited option, so that’s why Walmart isn’t carrying that album.”

Of course, reissuing an album only seven months after its release could cause lackluster sales, too. While SPIN’s inquiries to Target and Walmart haven’t yet been answered, it’s worth noting that, online at least, neither retailer offers the recently released Paradise Edition version of Lana Del Rey’s January album, Born to Die. Best Buy is selling that set online, but seems to have limited in-store stock. All of which seems to confirm Minaj’s claims.

Here’s Nicki being insufferable amongst the insufferable. The sales chatter starts around 10:00.