Barbz Till’ the Day I Die
I was around the age of 8 when I first heard a Nicki Minaj song. I can’t recall which one, but since hearing that first one her name popped up constantly after that and I grew to like her personality and lyricism. It wasn’t hard to miss her either, with her distinctive and bold style varying from colorful wigs to tight and revealing outfits. Nicki was everywhere doing features with Kanye, Big Sean, Trey Songs and the one who helped become what she is by signing her to his label, Lil Wayne. For years she held the biggest name in female rap and won the BET Music Awards for best female rap back to back for 7 years in a row. Through all the hype, what made me really stick with Nicki Is her charisma and talent. Her lyrics and word play is unique to even some male rappers.
Times change and new artists and sounds get introduced to mainstream music. When the female rapper Cardi B came out, people started comparing her to Nicki, which is a problem. A one-point Nick and Cardi had beef, which added fuel to the fire with fans and people picking a side on who’s the “Queen of rap”. I’m here to say that Cardi could never take Nicki’s place simply because the talent level is not on the same level.
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Now, please don’t get me wrong because I like Cardi too. I’ve been following her years before the fame when she blew up with “Bowdack Yellow”. Her personality is one of the first things you notice about her, sharing whatever is on her mind and being funny but real at the same time. She even had a few known songs from her previous mixtapes like “Lick” with her husband Offset. She was well known, and “Bodack Yellow” going viral was just what she needed to blow up, which she did. Since then, she has elevated to an A-list celebrity and doing features with her husband and his rap group, Migos (which also helped her career). Other big names, while making her own name. Her debut album spent weeks on the Hot 100 and it broke records.
I like and respect Cardi B, nut when it comes to comparing someone who has just made a few hits to someone who has help female rap down for years, it’s just not doing it for me. Cardi B openly talks about how she has help writing her raps. In the real rap world, that’s a no no. Not only that but you can tell Cardi is mainly in it for the money. We have yet to hear this woman freestyle, and people have the nerve to compare her to a legend, and yes Nicki is a legend. Nowadays, talent and lyricism isn’t all that people care about; it’s more so about the sound and look. This is why people are quick to look at her as better, because of her loud personality. Also people use an excuse that Nick fell off. She fell off because a lot of radio stations don’t mess with her, therefore are not playing her. What I think is most disrespectful is that I’ve watched interviewers ask other female rappers like Megan Thee Stallion and Sweetie on radio ‘Who’s better Nicki or Cardi”. I feel like the comparison between them isn’t going away anytime soon, but at the end of the day Would you compare offset to Jay Z? Okay then.
