Nicki Minaj had pretty much been the go-to for female hip-hop, all the way up until Cardi B’s ‘Bodak Yellow‘ broke on the scene at #1 on Billboard, instantly establishing a real competition for the title of NYC-Queen MC for the first time since…Lil’ Kim & Foxy Brown were going at it.
If Minaj is Michael Jordan, Cardi is Kobe. She’s coming into the game respecting Minaj, but not fearing her, her monstrous fan base, vast array of hit records or high-powered co-signs. While Cardi never officially threw shots, she clearly struck a nerve with Minaj by not acknowledging her influence over the rap-game or paying homage:
Via, Pitchfork:
“I remember when I first came in the game… I would only be singing their praises and saying thank you.” Nicki continued, “The first interview she did, it just hurt me because she looked so aggravated and angry. She just kept saying she didn’t hear it…. I was like, What?”
She then opened up more specifically about how Cardi handled the ‘Motorsport’ promo interviews after Minaj was criticized when Quavo shared footage of the video shoot sans Minaj (she & Cardi appeared separately in the video).
Also, after Cardi did this interview, revealing Minaj switched verses after the song was finished:
After Migos shared a behind-the-scenes preview of the “MotorSport” video, fans wondered why Nicki was not in the clip. Nicki told Lowe that she had a scheduling conflict and that it hurt her that nobody attempted to “clear the air.” “And you still did interviews just to paint Nicki as the bad person. And play the victim. And that really, really hurt me because I really fully supported her [Cardi B]. And up until this recent interview she did [with Ebro Darden for Beats 1], I had never seen her show love in an interview. And I can only imagine how many girls wished they could’ve been on a song with Nicki Minaj.”
Nicki Minaj isn’t wrong here, but there’s no way to explain this and not sound salty. Cardi is flaming hot in the streets right now, so any shade her way, especially about her not ‘kissing your rings’, is going to come off a bit envious.
Ultimately, this is going to come down to who is making the better music. Minaj will have the larger fan base and sales by-far due to her being at the top of rap for so long, but it sounds like that is the last thing on Nicki’s mind. This is about paying respects.
Cardi’s response will be interesting.