Nicki Minaj joins the dubious list of A-list pop stars who are cool with performing for dictators

Last week rapper Nicki Minaj performed a concert in Angola, which is not necessarily a big deal except she reportedly received $2 million dollars for the show from Unitel, a mobile phone company owned by the family of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos. Dos Santos has been in power in Angola for 36 years and is widely considered a dictator.

Minaj posted photos of herself with the President's daughter Isabel dos Santos on her Instagram, saying:

"Oh no big deal...she's just the 8th richest woman in the world. (At least that's what I was told by someone b4 we took this photo) Lol. Yikes!!!!! GIRL POWER!!!!! This motivates me soooooooooo much!!!!"

According to an open letter to Minaj from the The Human Rights Foundation, the Dos Santos family make their money through "exploiting Angola's diamond and oil wealth to amass an illegitimate fortune while maintaining control over all branches of the government, the military, and civil society ... it his policy to harass, imprison, or kill politicians, journalists, and activists who protest his rule." Minaj performed the show anyway, which she has a right to do. There are no limitations for visiting or working in Angola.

There is still the stigma of legitimizing what is one of the top most corrupt governments in the world (the most in southern Africa). But Nicki Minaj is not the first star to perform for a questionable government. Here's a rundown of a few other A-listers who've been willing to make despot's toes tap:

1. Jennifer Lopez -Berdymukhamedov's Turkmenistan

"We wish you the very, very, happiest birthday," Lopez said to Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov before singing to him at a huge celebration in his central Asian country.

Human Rights Watch calls the Berdymukhamedov regime "one of the most repressive in the world, marked by new levels of repression." Berdymukhamedov seized power in 2007 after the only person more mad than he is, Saparmurat Niyazov, died. (Niyazov changed his language's word for bread to his mother's name, renamed the month of September after the book he wrote, and once tried to build a permanent structure made out of ice in the middle of the desert). Berdymukhamedov proceeded to honor himself with a giant bronze and gold statue of his likeness in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat.

2. Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Usher, Bon Jovi and 50 Cent - Muammar Qaddafi's Libya

Leaked diplomatic cables confirm Queen Bey and Company performed gigs at parties thrown by Qaddafi's sons Hannibal and Mutassim in Italy and St. Barths. All four claim they donated their fees to earthquake relief in Haiti. Also, Lindsay Lohan was there.

Hannibal escaped Libya during the civil war that ousted his father. He was briefly taken captive in Lebanon this month but was set free soon after. Mutassim got his around the same time as his father, when he was captured by Libyan rebels outside of Sirte. The rebels stabbed him in the throat.

3. Nelly Furtado - Also Muammar Qaddafi's Libya

Around the same time as Beyoncé's work with the Qaddafi family came out, Furtado self-identified on Twitter. She was paid $1 million to perform for the family at an Italian hotel in 2007. (Which seems remarkable because few can name two Nelly Furtado songs without googling her, and the Qaddafis liked her enough to buy an entire concert.) Still, Furtado wasn't Colonel Qaddafi's true love. We all know who that was:

The singer promised to give the money away to an unnamed charity. In 2012, she released a song called Arab Spring.

4. Michael Jackson - King Hamad's Bahrain

It's hard to call a U.S. ally a dictatorship, but while half their bicameral legislature features elected officials, the other half is appointed by the King who can rule by decree. When the late King of Pop fled there in 2005 after being acquitted of child molestation charges, the Khalifa family provided for him in exchange for a private show and a recorded album.

While the singer took the money from the dictator, he never made good on the promise of a performance or a recorded album, so maybe Jackson was performing a service by swindling the monarch.

5. Sting - Karimov's Uzbekistan

In 2009, Sting performed for a man who's best known for boiling his enemies alive. Islam Karimov's rule was celebrated via a festival funded and planned by his daughter, Gulnara Karimova, the "Uzbek Princess."

The Uzbek regime is the dictatorship likened closest to North Korea. Karimov is so power mad, he sees his daughter's popularity as a threat, jailing her and her family in her home. Sting accepted a $2 million payment for his performance. Sting refused to apologize, saying he believed that boycotts only isolate dictator-ruled countries. Karimov banned Sting's music shortly afterward because the Police alum called him a dictator.

6. Lionel Richie - Qaddafi's Libya. Again.

Richie was the first to perform for the dictator's family inside Libyan borders, though it was a celebration of Qaddafi surviving a U.S. attack on his compound in Tripoli, in front of the bombed-out compound which Qaddafi never rebuilt. The singer has never spoken about the performance.

7. James Brown, B.B. King, Bill Withers - Mobutu Sese Seko's Zaire

Sese Seko put on a festival celebrating his rule in what he called Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1974. The dictator, who would go on to embezzle $5 billion, put up the cost of the Zaire 74 Festival, which was promoted by famed boxing promoter Don King as part of the build up to the Mohammed ali-George Foreman fight (dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle").

8. Kanye West - Nazarbayev's Kazakhstan

The rapper was hired to perform at the wedding of Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev's grandson. The former Russian Soviet Republic is sharply criticized by human rights organizations for its serious violations and deteriorating situation.

Yeezy was paid a reported $3 million for his appearance, which was recorded on Twitter and Instagram. Kanye West was able to express himself at the mic, unlike the rest of Kazakhstan, a nation suffering a harsh and unprecedented crackdown on freedom of expression and political plurality with the imprisonment of outspoken opposition and civil society activists.

9. Mariah Carey - José Eduardo dos Santos' Angola

Yeah, same dictator, same place. Carey performed in Angola in 2013 at the behest of her manager, Jermaine Dupri, whom she would fire the next year.

This wasn't the first time Carey performed for a dictator. In 2010, she publicly apologized for a 2008 New Year's celebration performance, which is a nice segue to . . .

10. Mariah Carey - Qaddafi's Libya

She was paid an undisclosed sum for performing for the Qaddafi family at a private residence in St. Barth's. As part of  her penance, she reminded everyone how much money she regularly gives to charity even as she pocketed her payment and released a statement:

"I was naive and unaware of who I was booked to perform for, I feel horrible and embarrassed to have participated in this mess. Going forward, this is a lesson for all artists to learn from. We need to be more aware and take more responsibility regardless of who books our shows. Ultimately we as artists are to be held accountable."

Indeed.