Op-Ed: Nicki Minaj and Cardi B Beef

I woke up at five something this morning and checked my phone, as per my usual morning routine. What caught my eye is the Twitter moment about Nicki Minaj and Cardi B’s ongoing “beef.” I have a real problem with beefs within the rap community, mostly because it was rumored to be a beef that led to the deaths of Biggie and Tupac. They are useless and a level of petty one grows tired of reading about, seeing, and hearing of.

Nicki Minaj, a veteran and known as the literal “Queen of Rap” despite many greats going before her, should be content with knowing her successes and the road her life has taken. She should be able to let most things drip off her back, knowing who the fuck she is and what her place is in the realm of popular music. She is an icon. Is this the case? Absolutely not. Lately, it seems her music, posts, and interviews are riddled with shade and jabs at other people. She even bashed strippers and sex workers in an interview with Elle in July of 2018. Although we can’t say with certainty, in hindsight it appears she was probably soft dissing Cardi then, from her history as a stripper. Minaj has always glorified her hyper sexuality, and has used symbolism in her videos and songs glorifying the lifestyle, but now she thinks it’s disgusting. Okay.

Cardi B, a relative newcomer who broke into the scene after humble beginnings, seems pretty genuine in her disappointment of it all. You can tell Minaj was one of her role models, and that being new to the industry, she may have thought meeting her was a dream come true just a few years ago. She is really getting the sympathy of most of us just from seeing the sadness behind the anger in her video responses.

After speaking of it on Queen Radio, Minaj opened up the Pandora’s Box, so to speak, and this sent Cardi B to Instagram with a series of emotional video responses covering every account, complete with screenshots. Parts of these videos disclosed more evidence of her shock and disappointment. Minaj or one of her entourage apparently released Cardi’s personal phone number, immediately following a “fight” between their two camps, and despite her not openly discussing the problems, it paints a picture of vindictiveness which should have been immediately addressed my Minaj had she not been directly involved.

I am a grown woman. Obviously, I am far from the target demographic of teen and young adult they are gearing toward, but as a grown woman, I am disappointed by this behavior. These two women, have the opportunity to be real role models for girls and women everywhere. They had and let slide a chance to exemplify building each other up, in a time when women NEED to do that more. We are most assuredly watching our rights and years of progress be placed on the chopping block in the real world, and these two seem to think their egos are more important. I can say, I have been the Cardi in situations and have had women (and men) I should’ve been able to look up to in this industry and life, in general, turn out to burn me for their own insecurities. I have had rumors spread, lies told, and my character attacked, so seeing this first thing this morning set me off.

You are both beautiful and successful women, with much to be grateful for. You have the power of influence, and you chose to fight each other with it. What a complete waste if you ask me. Use that power and influence to positively affect the upcoming election by encouraging your young adult listeners to vote or to send out a message of women working together, and being the bigger person. The best thing for you both to do right now to garner respect at this point is to stop pouring fuel on the fire and work together to change the world for future little girls and the future generations of artists. Otherwise, do it in private. The only ones who do care are stuck in a middle school mentality or just enjoy other people’s drama. This is just one woman’s opinion.