By: Taren Vaughan
Love her or hate her, Young Money’s Nicki Minaj is one of the hottest female rappers in the game right now. And she has a whole band of Barbies following behind her to prove it. Not to mention the Billboard records that she has single handedly broken way before the release of her debut album “Pink Friday”. Known best for her animated voice impersonations and “interesting” choice of hairstyles, Minaj has seen the success that most rappers, let alone female rappers, don’t see within their first year on the scene or their entire careers period. Many notable female emcees have no problem with the Barbie image that Nicki portrays and have even gone into the studio with her a time or two. But there is one out of the bunch that is not really feeling her as much as the rest.
For what’s seems to have been the whole year now, rapper Lil’ Kim has expressed her opinion on Nicki Minaj and what she brings to the world of Hip-Hop. And let’s just say that the “Queen B” is not too impressed with her. And to further show her disapproval for Ms. Minaj, Kim put out “Black Friday”, a diss record mimicking Minaj’s debut album “Pink Friday” which hit stores on November 22nd. For those who haven’t heard the song yet, Kim definitely goes in on Nicki, “Big Momma” style:
Damn, is she taking shots at Drake and Diddy too? Guess all of Barbie’s buddies are on her hit list now.
One thing is quite obvious here after listening to this track. And that is that the reason why Nicki has the Queen buzzin’ so hard is because she feels her style is being jacked without permission. Lil’ Kim has also gone on to speak a few times about how Minaj pays no homage to all the women in the Rap game who paved the way for her. Truth of the matter is, yes, Minaj’s style is very reminiscent of that of Kim’s. The open legged squat pose is more than enough to back up that statement.
Yep, splitting images right there. That’s something that we can all agree on. But I could have sworn that Foxy Brown had that same sex driven image during her time in the spotlight, minus the colorful wigs that is.
And as far as Nicki not giving props to those who came before her, she has cleared her name of that accusation on several award shows and interviews. And let’s not forget about how hard Kim is backing Keys, the Baltimore rapper who can be seen on a popular YouTube video, lyrically ripping Minaj to pure shreds. Anything that’s all about Barbie bashin’, Lil’ Kim is down for. But why though?
What’s the real reason why Kim keeps coming at Nicki like this? Is this her way of bringing her career back to life again? Or is she just that salty about all the success that Minaj has had off of using “her” image? Honestly, it actually could be a bit of both. Rumors have been floating around about Lil’ Kim dropping another album soon. And putting out this diss track could be her way of getting fans ready. But if this new LP is going to be nothing but a Nicki bash fest, it won’t sell much. And if she is not going to give fans that raw, street “Hardcore” Lil’ Kim that we are used to, then we can do without it.
In some people’s eyes, Nicki Minaj may be just a watered down, rip off version of Lil’ Kim. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to give the girl mad props for getting into a male dominated arena and not being afraid to step in it and do her thing. She’s making her dreams come true and that’s at least the one thing Lil’ Kim and everyone else should respect about her. Fans all over are now anxious to see how Nicki will respond to the “Black Friday” track.
Could there be a Lil’ Kim diss record in making? Knowing how Nicki Minaj handles her beef, I wouldn’t even get your hopes up. But you never know anything could happen at this point. As far as the bashing goes, unless it turns into a Nas vs. Jay-Z type deal with a true lyrical battle attached to it, it needs to be squashed and put to rest. Mic fights are the essence of Hip-Hop. But cat fights aren’t.
