Tag: Lil’ Kim

As a woman in the music industry, there’s never been a better time to show the patriarchy how useless it is by starting one’s own label (though let us never forget that Madonna already set that bar a long time ago with Maverick). Ultimate proof that “the suits” have been capitalizing on the myth of their “indispensability” for far too long. Among the ranks of female musicians to have recently started their own label is MARINA, who founded Queenie Records in late 2022. But while MARINA is known for being a more, shall we say, collaborative personality, Nicki Minaj has a reputation for starting beef with just about every interaction (almost Azealia Banks-style)—usually with fellow female rappers. Thus, for her to establish a record label would theoretically mean she’s willing to pack in her combative ways in order to “fully show up” for the musicians she wants to sign. And sure, she claims, “When I get behind an artist, y’all know how I do shit for people that’s not even signed to me. Imagine what I’ma do for the ones that’s signed,” but when anyone rubs her the wrong way, it’s game over.

One of the latest female rappers to do that was Latto (evidently, taking Cardi B’s erstwhile spot for most threatening new addition to the scene). The beef arose when Minaj called out Latto as an example of a new artist who didn’t deserve such reverence compared to her, this being catalyzed by the Recording Academy’s decision to move Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” into consideration for the pop category instead of the rap one while putting together their nomination list (in the end, “Super Freaky Girl” didn’t make the cut at all, while Latto’s “Big Energy” received a nomination in the category of Best Melodic Rap Performance). Minaj’s response to this was, “They stay moving the goalposts when it comes to me. If you can’t tell by now there is a concerted effort to give new artists things they don’t deserve, over artists who have been deserving for many years.”

This echoed Minaj’s contempt for Cardi’s early success as well. However, rather than start a Twitter war as she did with Latto, the beef came directly to Nicki at a New York Fashion Week party in 2018. When Cardi famously got elbowed in the side of the forehead by one of Minaj’s security guards before then throwing her shoe in Minaj’s direction. The feud’s boiling point was spurred by Cardi’s irritation over “lies Nicki was spreading,” in addition to threatening other musicians in the business that she wouldn’t work with them if they chose to work with Cardi. Taking to Instagram Live after the incident, Cardi expressed, “You lie so much you can’t even keep up with yo fuckin’ lies.”

Latto felt similarly when Minaj forced her into the drama over the Grammys by tweeting, “This Karen has probably mentioned my name in over 100 interviews…but today, scratch off decides to be silent; rather than speak up for the black woman she called her biggest inspiration.” The accusation came after Latto texted her privately in support of her statement about the unfairness of the category classification for “Super Freaky Girl,” prompting Latto to remind Nicki when she dragged it out in public, “1st of all I texted u cause I didn’t wanna do the internet sht w sum1 I looked up to. I do agree but the way u going about it seems malicious.” Hence, Latto definitely not looking up to Nicki anymore by the time it was all over, complete with getting #40YearOldBully to trend on Twitter. Latto then shared a recorded phone conversation she had with Nicki (because she knew “who tf I’m dealing with”) that featured Nicki accusing Latto of trying to put herself “above” other female rappers a.k.a. Minaj. All in all, it doesn’t sound as though Minaj would create a very “safe space” to nurture up-and-coming female artists in. Especially with the Lil’ Kim prophecy in mind that went: “She wanted to be the only female out there… she wanted to be out there by herself.”

As the beefs rack up, it appears Minaj might end up being just that in more ways than one. Particularly if she alienates more women trying to or who actually get signed to her label. As Cardi concluded on her 2018 Instagram Live, “You’re out here fucking up your legacy looking like a fucking hater.” And yet, there was a time when creating controversy of this nature was considered “good” for one’s rep. These being in the pre-woke days of pop culture, when everyone could freely admit that they got off on the drama. With the present climate, the urging for women in rap to partake of a more “room for everyone” spirit has been met with continued venom from Miss Chun-Li herself—making it slightly difficult for her to transition into a 2020s climate. But, apropos of “Chun-Li,” it was Minaj herself who insisted, “They need rappers like me/So they can get on their fuckin’ keyboards and make me the bad guy.”

Yet it seems Minaj is only too adept at doing that to herself (all while refusing to admit to the Taylor adage, “It’s me, hi. I’m the problem it’s me”). This is perhaps because Minaj comes from an old school sensibility regarding what rap entails. More than just the music itself, it is (or was) about a lifestyle centered on beefing. As Minaj once phrased it, “Rap is different now. You gotta pretend you like people and stuff. Everybody’s gotta get on the bandwagon. They get on the love bandwagon, and they get on the hate bandwagon.”

To play both sides of old and new school takes on what rap should include outside of the music itself, Nicki is known for firing shots behind the scenes while paying “respect” in public—ergo, Latto taping the aforementioned conversation wherein she called Latto “delusional” for saying other female rappers were flourishing. With that in mind, is there any nascent female rap aspirant that would really dare to fuck with Minaj’s label knowing how petty (no reference to her husband intended) she can be? That might be why Minaj was certain to specify, “Don’t think my label is just rap, or Black, or anything. We got some other genres of music.” For, if not, Minaj is liable to get jealous if another woman on her label actually did succeed a little “too well”—conjuring the image of the lyrical threat, “These birds copy every word, every inch/But gang-gang got the hammer and the wrench.” Minaj has also reiterated her contempt for any woman who tries to compete for her throne on her latest single, “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” (during which she also alludes to the Latto beef, in addition to “potentially” shading Megan Thee Stallion with the line, “I don’t fuck with horses”).

Continuing her beloved tradition of sampling, Minaj used Lumidee’s “Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)” (itself a sample from Steven “Lenky” Marsden’s Diwali Riddim compilation) on the follow-up single to the Rick James-grafted “Super Freaky Girl.” Minaj, whether aware of it or not, appears to tongue-in-cheekly include Lumidee’s original verses at the end: “If you want me to stay/I’ll never leave/If you want me to stay/Love endlessly.” In other words, she wants everyone else to love her endlessly…not the other way around. Which certainly makes for plenty of beef-stewing on a new label. Or, if nothing else, the building of a new kind of Barbz army.