A RatedR View on Nicki Minaj & Cardi B
A Hip-Hop beef is generally supposed to start in the studio, for it to be released to the public through song later on. 2018 is a different, with the complete opposite becoming the obvious and popular choice. The fans are becoming instigators and flame keepers. And in the community, there is no group whose fan bases are more passionate than those of "pop rappers". They are supported at all times - that's what we see with both Nicki Minaj and Cardi B. They're two of the most impactful and well-known female rappers of all-time therefore, it was bound to happen that they would collide. This week, we saw two titans throw shots; let's analyse who is winning and my predictions.
The first stage of this battle comes in the form of what has been said in the media about the entire beef. Both have been lowkey in front of the cameras about any squabbles between them, the official story being that they squashed any bad blood at the 2018 Met Gala. With that being said, during Nicki Minaj's Live Lyrical Queen Interview with Rob Markman, she had this to say:
"I was on Twitter building my fan base, booking shows myself, ok? I didn't have all of that shit. I did not have - I couldn't pay a bunch people to say they like me and do all this shit. My talent! My talent!
It's clear to see that it's an attack at Cardi B's numbers and hustle. In a video posted almost a year ago, Cardi admits that she spent over sixty thousand dollars so that DJ's and radio hosts could play her music. It's an attack in the media. In her Tidal interview, she goes on to say that some "female artists" get a push from the record label so that they can dethrone her, because while it's not a question of who could out rap her, but it's a question of the statistics in terms of sales and fanbase.
Cardi B responded quickly and decisively on her instagram live on August 16th, being very vocal when she said:
"People love me, when I, when you make a fanbase, they gonna want to buy whatever you give them. And nobody, no label, could buy that s***. if everybody can have a number, than ain't, then why not everybody have one? Why is that? Whis is, there's other labels, they got a lot of money. Why can't they buy they artists number one? Why can't they buy they artists success?
Cardi followed these comments with a scathing acceptance speech at the 2018 edition of the MTV Music Video Awards, where she won the award for Best New Artist when she said that "[...] All the love that my fans, that my friends, that everybody shows me is genuine and beautiful. That's something that God gave me and that you can't buy, b****."
At this point, we can see that the beef truly is for the title of who is the Rap Queen. Who is better? That's an individual assessment. The questioning goes to the fans - are they real or are they fake? Were they bought? Is the reason that Cardi B rose to the level that she's at because of her own talent or is it because she was pushed by outer forces?
The second stage of this beef, which is generally the most important part of any altercation in Hip-Hop, is what is put on the record at the end of the day. Neither artist have been explicit in their lyrics about their supposed animosity; all we have to go by are what we can suppose are subliminal shots. Off of Nicki Minaj's Queen album is the 'Ganja Burn' track, in which she states in the first verse:
They done went to witch doctors to bury the Barbie
But I double back, kill b******, bury the body
And that go for anybody, you'll be thoroughly sorry
I could wage war or I come in peace like Gandhi
The play is clearly on the word body, which, when said with Nicki's accent, can sound like Bardi - a clear call to Cardi B. But what's important is the following verse, which is an obvious shot at Cardi B's status in the game today as well as her ghostwriting controversy.
Yo, you can't wear Nicki wig and then be Nicki
That's like a fat n**** thinkin' he can be Biggie
[...]
If it's really your passion would you give the world for that?
Unlike a lot of these hoes whether wack or lit
At least I can say I wrote every rap I spit
While there are more shots inside the Queen album on tracks such as on 'Hard White' or even 'LLC', those last ones are the most telling ones from Nicki's camp. However, Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy doesn't have the amount of subliminals due to it coming out well before the hostilities could begin. The only "evidence" that people such as I could find in terms of Cardi B talking about Nicki in her music could come from Migos' 'MotorSport' in which she features with Nicki:
Same lips that be talkin' 'bout me
Is the same lips that be a** kissin'
These h*** ain't, what they say they are
And their p**** stank, they're catfishin'
Same h***, that was sendin' shots
They reachin' out like their back itchin'
Why would I hop in some beef (why?)
When I could just hop in a Porsche?
You heard she gon' do what from who?
That's not a reliable source, no
The third and final stage are the numbers: what are the fans buying and what sides are the fans taking with their wallets. In the end, it's important because the music industry is still a business. At the end of the first week, Queen is projected to sell only half of what Invasion of Privacy sold, even with a strong tracklisting and good-to-great reviews from critics. What kills the album is the lack of real push for it in terms of singles that had shelf life: 'Chun-Li' is good but not 'God's Plan' good just as 'Barbie Dreams' is good but not 'Butterfly Effect' good. In fact, you have to go back to the end of the week of September 6th 2014 to see Minaj's highest charting track on the Billboard Hot 100, that being 'Anaconda' with the number 2 spot, while you just have to go back to October 7th 2017 to see that 'Bodak Yellow' was the highest charting song for three consecutive weeks. When it comes to sales, there is no comparison to be made at this time because Cardi took over 2017 and became one of the most successful rappers of the year in the process.
From what I can see in this entire situation, it truly is up in the air. I couldn't say that Nicki Minaj is old or washed up, as her last album proves that she is in great lyrical form - my favorite song being 'Ganja Burn' - like some Cardi fans would like to say. Minaj has been in the game since 2004, while being a major act since 2009 with 'BedRock', so this isn't her first go around the block. She's had beef with Eve, Lil Kim, Remy Ma and has come out successful in almost every situation. On the other side, Cardi is fresh, new and a powerful voice for people today. She is one of the biggest rappers in the world today who seems to chart on a consistent basis. While her career is young, only releasing music since 2015, she is a firestorm. The stages are set: both have talked to the media, Nicki brought out some of her best lines in terms of music while Cardi has sold more in the past two years. If this does go to the booth like a traditional beef with diss tracks, I don't know who to pick. It's something we would have to see happen to see a worthwhile conclusion.