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Singer and internet personality Queen Naija is candidly sharing her insights into the world of social media, revealing its downsides and how she has strategically utilized it as a tool to enhance her financial success.
The 27-year-old, who began her career as a YouTube vlogger shortly after her elimination from the thirteenth season of American Idol in 2014, ultimately shifted gears years later and pursued music full-time following the success of her 2018 hit "Medicine." From there, Queen signed with Capitol Records after "Medicine" generated millions of views online and later released a self-titled EP that same year, most of which was documented on her YouTube channel.
Queen's EP debuted at number 26 on Billboard 200 and went on to earn a Gold certification thanks to her hit records "Medicine," "Karma," and "Mama's Hand." Since then, the mother of two has released her debut album Missunderstood, which earned an American Music Award nomination for favorite R&B album and debuted at number one on Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart.
In light of Queen's accomplishments over the years, she became a prime target for social media trolls. During a recent interview with xoNecole's Kayla Walker, Queen opened up about the "Blame Queen Naija" trend and how she's been able to block out the negativity.
Queen On "I Blame Queen Naija"
For context, in the "I Blame Queen Naija" trend, social media users condemned the "Butterflies" vocalist for real-life issues that occurred in an attempt to bully her.
In the June discussion, Queen revealed that after being the brunt of the joke for many years, she monetized the situation by creating and selling "I Blame Queen Naija" t-shirts.
"It's been a joke for a few years now, and for the longest, I was just letting it rock out, but for the first time in a while, I was like, I need to make some money off this. Like I need to make a bag. I decided to drop some t-shirts," she said.
Further into the interview, Queen shared that the "I Blame Queen Naija" trend began to go viral again because of the recent Titan submarine tragedy on Twitter. Due to the virality, Queen claimed that her t-shirts have been selling rapidly.
"It recently got heightened up by a post on Twitter. So I just some shirts, and they're selling," she stated. "Blame me for everything. Just keep blaming me y'all. Keep going."
Queen On Social Media
Despite the hate, when asked how she maintains a positive attitude throughout it all, Queen disclosed that she remains in high spirits because she realizes the difference between social media and real life.
The "Let's Talk About It" songstress proved this fact by sharing that she saw the person who was bullying her online with the "I Blame Queen Naija" trend at one of her shows.
"To be honest with you, social media is social media. It's not a real thing. Like the person that was trolling me for so long about the 'Blame Queen Naija,' he just came to my show. That just goes to show you guys that all of this is fake," she said.
Queen wrapped up her statement by saying that although she's been targeted online for years, it’s different in person.
"It's love in real life. I get love in real life. When I go to my shows, I see all those lights lighting up in the crowd," she stated. "When I reach the mic out, and I don't have to sing my own words. That's what it's about right there. This social media stuff is fake. That's how I cut through it. I just think about the love I have in real life."
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Feature image by Prince Williams/WireImage
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