Nicki Minaj‘s “Feeling Myself” video (featuring Beyonce) just dropped like 30 minutes ago. I was able to watch the TIDAL exclusive video courtesy of Streamable! But one specific thing about the Coachella-based party clip caught my attention, and it was Minaj’s “pervert” jersey in her mini dance sequence. Why? Because Janet Jackson had worn a similarly styled tee at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards 20 years earlier!
The word itself is always guaranteed a second glance reaction, but when Jackson wore it in 1995, it was especially controversial due to the fact that her brother Michael Jackson was facing unjustified allegations of child molesting. Reportedly, Janet was wearing the baseball designed tee as a sign of irreverent support against the claims. She was standing with her blood!
Months before the VMAs that same year, the two finally granted their collective fanbases their wishes and collaborated on a song together called “Scream”. You might’ve heard of the smash on a smash single! And the clip back then was most expensive music video ever made, costing a “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” amount of $7 million. Damn!
20 years later in the “Feeling Myself” video (that looks like a sequel to Beyonce‘s “Party” visuals), in her dance scenes with two background dancers, Minaj wears a see-through jersey that reads ‘Pervert’ on top. It’s also numbered like Janet’s tee, except it says “17”, not “2.” Fashion Bomb Daily discovered that Minaj’s jersey is by Givenchy and costs over $1,000.
Janet Jackson! Still inspiring the kids so many years later.
Watch Janet wear her tee below at the VMAs. She and Michael had won Best Dance Video for “Scream.”