Nicki Minaj has canceled her North American tour with rapper Future. The “NickiHndrxx” concert originally scheduled for Friday, November 2 at Toyota Center will no longer take place as scheduled.
Minaj said on her Twitter account Tuesday night that she didn’t have enough time to rehearse for the upcoming “NickiHndrxx” tour in September after the release of her latest album “Queen,” released August 10. The rapper says she will contribute more rehearsal time toward the tour’s European launch with Future in February.
Minaj says her North American tour will be rescheduled for May next year. However, the tour will be without co-headliner Future due to scheduling conflicts.
Minaj has been a trending topic recently after sending irritated tweets about her new album debuting No. 2 behind Travis Scott. She also faced criticism after comparing herself to Harriet Tubman ahead of her appearance at the Video Music Awards.
Per a Live Nation source, “Nicki’s tour looked to be the most disappointing ticket sales of the year for any artist. She and Future were booked in big arenas with around 20,000 capacities.”
The source added, “Sales for opening night in Baltimore were just 2,000 tickets. LA was 3,400 – for a 17,000 capacity venue – New Orleans 1,000, Denver 1,300, Chicago 3,900. Even Nicki’s hometown of New York City, the Barclays Center (which has a capacity of 19,000) sold only 5,050 tickets.”
Late Tuesday night, Live Nation announced Minaj had thrown in the towel on the tour.
“Following her unforgettable VMA performance, Nicki Minaj has decided to reevaluate elements of production on the NickiHndrxx Tour. … [and] to contribute more time to rehearsal ahead of the tour’s launch to make certain her fans get the absolute best quality show that they deserve,” a Live Nation statement reported.
But the truth is, “Nicki’s tour ticket sales were not just in the toilet, they were totally down the drain. There was no way the tour could go forward,” the Live Nation source added.