Nicki Minaj Appears To Be Resetting Her Instagram Account, Prompting New Music Speculation From Fans

It’s a new year, but one thing remains unchanged: Fans’ thirst for new music from their faves — and their resulting Dan Brown-ish ability to read clues in every move an artist makes. One of the most surefire signs that an act is gearing up for a big promo run is the infamous social media reset, where stars use third-party apps to mass delete tweets, photos, and follows in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, such third-party activity is often limited by the proprietors of social networks like Twitter and Instagram, leading to what some might call awkward situations.

Nicki Minaj woke up to one of those situations today after her attempt to clear her Instagram resulted in some high-profile unfollows including her most prolific collaborators Ariana Grande and Doja Cat, as well as her own mother. It looks like she was going for a reset of her follows and an all-around page update, clearing her highlights row as well. Unfortunately, Instagram’s unfollow limit, knocked her “following” total down to just 723 people and she’ll likely have to wait until her account cycles through the waiting period before continuing and presumably adding back her faves.

Of course, the flurry of activity naturally stirred up the Barbz, who previously urged R&B legend Dionne Warwick to join their ranks, leading to a fun update of Ms. Warwick’s Twitter profile. Fans immediately decided that the reorganization effort meant new music would be on the way soon, while others speculated beef with the unfollowed artists — and even her mom, Carol.

Nicki herself posted to her story, asking fans to bear with her as she’s “sorting it out.” Meanwhile, Nicki’s main feed seems to be untouched after she shared a photo of her son just after the calendar flip. We’ll see if 2021 brings a new collection of music from the new mom, who had one of her biggest years in 2020 despite not releasing an album, thanks to back-to-back No. 1 appearances alongside Doja Cat and Tekashi 69. Stay tuned.