Musical Divide

Number one fan

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Rap icon Nicki Minaj declared Wednesday she was Donald Trump’s “number one fan,” adding that “hate” directed at the US president made her support him more.

Republican Trump called the provocative singer-songwriter up on stage after she announced her support for so-called “Trump Accounts,” which provide trust funds for children.

“I will say that I am probably the president’s number one fan, and that’s not going to change,” said Minaj, who wore a furry white coat as she embraced Trump and took the podium.

“And the hate or what people have to say, it does not affect me at all. It actually motivates me to support him more,” added the 43-year-old Trinidadian star.

Ode to shooting victims

American rock hero Bruce Springsteen dived into the outrage over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown with a fiery song released Wednesday that pays tribute to two protesters fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis.

Springsteen said the song “Streets of Minneapolis” was a response to “state terror” in the northern US city, rocked by the actions of armed federal officers that have stoked vociferous local protests.

“I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city” in the state of Minnesota, The Boss wrote on his Instagram page.

“It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good,” the 76-year-old wrote, referring to the two US nationals killed this month. Pretti died after a scuffle with agents on a snowy Minneapolis street on Saturday. 

MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — Veteran rock legend Neil Young has given Greenland residents free access to his music catalog, saying he hoped the gesture offered stress relief to those unsettled by Trump’s threats.

“This is an offer of peace and love,” the dual US-Canadian musician said on his website.

“I hope my music and music films will ease some of the unwanted stress and threats you are experiencing from our unpopular and hopefully temporary government,” Young wrote.

“All the music I have made during the last 62 years is yours to hear,” the 80-year-old Young said.

Anyone with a cellphone number using Greenland’s country code can access the gift, which Young said is renewable “as long as you are in Greenland.”

Young has been a long-standing critic of Trump. When Trump was elected to his first term in 2016, Young wrote a song called “Already Great” as a repudiation of Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.