Photo Credit: so-feminine.UK
Yes, I heard about the renewal of the ‘beef’ between
Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim. I heard about it and yawned.
Yes, yawned. Not only because it was about 10 in
the morning when I got wind of it, but because to
me it really amounts to nothing more than another
one of those silly fights you see up in the club. You
know the ones; fights where’s a little bit too much
Ciroc in a makeshift VIP area that’s really two tables
in the corner roped off. Sometimes they can get very
serious and dangerous. But most of the time, it becomes
a spectacle and something folks just laugh at and
shake their heads. Much like this situation. 
Photo credit: ABCNews
Lil Kim basically has charged Nicki Minaj with being
a ‘biter’ once again with her latest single, ‘Identity
Theft’. The single dropped as Minaj was enjoying the
buzz off of her verse on Beyonce’s ‘Flawless’ remix &
getting people ready for Anaconda, her next release.
Does Kim have a point? Yes, she does to a degree.
Nicki followed the Lil Kim blueprint step by step,
right down to the iconic poster pose Kim made famous
that hung up on damn near every dude I knew in
college’s dorm room wall back in 1996. It’s been
obvious right down to the various shades of hair
changes. Lil Kim has gone at Nicki with serious
intent, none more evident than the Black Friday
mixtape where she’s seen decapitating Nicki in a
drawing. But the biggest problem is and has been
that Lil Kim’s music is dated compared to what
Nicki has put out. Even when Kim declared she’s
putting out a mixtape on 9/11, you could hear
crickets. I don’t even listen to either rapper like
that truthfully, but when you get down to brass
tacks, Nicki’s doing more as the next evolutionary
step of this kind of woman rapper. Kim’s stance
isn’t new in hip-hop either in terms of paying
respect. But what she forgets is, sometimes
rappers only get to the top by taking out other
rappers. Much like 50 Cent did to Ja Rule by making
fun of him for being a rap crooner even though
50 made millions with G-Unit tracks where he
did a little singing hook style himself. There’s also
another layer to this situation as well.
That layer? Iggy Azalea. Because both rappers are
now in a position of taking up the rear to the Aussie
rapper on T.I.’s label. A white rapper who in essence
has successfully swagger-jacked both Nicki and Kim
with a Southern twang. And has done so to make
hit songs and snag a role in The Fast and Furious 7
with other projects in the works. There lies the real drama:
Nicki is doing all she can to stay in the limelight of
the contemporary rap scene and Lil Kim has to fight
to remain noticed. With the addition of recently freed
Remy Ma looking to make up for lost time, it’s even
more pressing. But truthfully, all this ‘beef’ is boils
down to two people in the club having a prolonged
disagreement. We’ll laugh at it and wait for the next
‘spat’ to take place while radio stations get their hype
machines warmed up with it. Let me know when they’re
going to have a head-to-head battle. If that’s even a
possibility.