The rapper Nicki Minaj was sued this week over a pink Lamborghini that she rented for one of her videos. The company, Hollywood Exotic Car Rental, sued her for $12,000, alleging that the car was damaged and that the rental fee was not paid.

The car had been rented for $1,750 a day to shoot her 'Massive Attack' music video, directed by Hype Williams.

The suit against Nicki Minaj was filed in L.A. Superior Court. The company alleges that the car was driven "off road" and that the damage amounted to $11,589.41. It also argues that Minaj didn't pay the three-day rental fee on the car, which totaled $5,250.


One can hope that Nicki Minaj makes enough money to pay the fee for this rental car, no matter how expensive. But you'd be surprised at how many rappers there are who pretend to have more money than they actually do. Given that Minaj is one of the hottest acts in all of hip-hop, I presume that she has the money. Secondly, there is the possibility that Team Minaj deliberately caused the lawsuit to generate publicity for the new video. Either way, it's a very interesting case of "Rapper Money Management."

Another interesting case was the "strategic default" by the rapper Chamillionaire, who decided that he didn't need his extra mansion (I think I'll get rid of one of my mansions, too) and simply stopped paying the mortgage. In light of the fact that Russell Simmons once took hip-hop artists around the country to promote the idea of sound money management, some might wonder if the rappers themselves actually got the memo.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book 'Black American Money.' To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.