Minaj will follow in
the lucrative footsteps of Mariah
Carey, who was paid a reported $1 million (£665,000) to perform
in 2013 for Mr dos Santos and his family. The average Angolan lives on $2 a
day, yet the dictator and his family have amassed more than $3.5 billion in the
three decades that Mr dos Santos has been in power.
Minaj’s fee has not
been disclosed, but her presence at Saturday night’s show has been announced on
a series of fliers around the country, featuring the Anaconda singer in a figure-hugging black dress,
reclining over a motorbike.
“Nicki Minaj is a global artist. Millions of
people look up to her for creative inspiration. There is no good reason for her
to do business with the corrupt Angolan dictatorship and endorse the ruler’s
family company,” said Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights
Foundation.
“What kind of
inspirational message is she sending to millions of young Angolans by
performing for the dictatorship that has literally stolen their freedom and
their future?”
Mr dos Santos
presided over a bloody and long civil war, in which he emerged the victor and
was declared president in 1979. Since then Angola has become one of the richest
and yet most unequal countries in Africa: 70 per cent of the population live on
less than $2 a day, and yet oil has made an elite few multi billionaires. The
president’s daughter – whose phone company sponsored the event – is the richest
woman in Africa.
Those who have
challenged Mr dos Santos’s government in recent years have been subjected to extrajudicial killings, forced
disappearances, arbitrary arrests and torture by state security forces.
But performing for
questionable regimes is nothing new for the world’s
most in-demand stars.
Beyoncé sang for the
Gaddafi family, although she later donated her fee to charity. Kim Kardashian
was reportedly paid $500,000 to say less than 10 words at an event in Lagos,
while her husband Kanye West took $3 million to play at the
wedding of the Kazakh dictator’s granddaughter.
Jennifer Lopez was
forced to apologise after performing "Happy Birthday" for
Turkmenistan's president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, a noted human-rights
abuser. Mariah Carey sacked her manager after she was criticised for her
Angolan appearance, and apologised for performing for the Gaddafis.
The Human Rights
Foundation is hoping that Minaj, too, may change her mind.
Last month an Angolan
rapper, Luaty Beirão, and 16 other young activists went on trial for the crime
of studying a book on nonviolent resistance. He went on hunger strike for 36
days to protest his arbitrary detention.
And the Foundation
said that Minaj should cancel the concert, and highlight their plight instead.
“HRF hopes Nicki
Minaj will cancel her trip and instead issue a statement of solidarity with
those jailed this month for opposing the dictatorship including rapper and
hip-hop artist Luaty Beirão,” said Mr Halvorssen.
"This would be a
great way for Minaj to set herself apart from other celebrity recipients of
dictator cash."
Minaj’s
representative did not respond to a request for comment.
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