Barbie vs. Queen Bee: Who Reigns As The Female Rap Supreme?

In a competitive and what is often looked upon as a short shelf life within the entertainment industry, women have struggled to find their place and be as successful as their male counterparts. When Hip-Hop music became more relevant in the 80’s to gaining its peak in the 90’s, this culture has seen 2-3 relevant female emcees with moderate success for each decade. The most successful female rapper to date is The Fugees Lauryn Hill who’s album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill went on to sell 8 million copies in the US alone, get 10 Grammy Nominations at the 41st Grammy Awards, and win 5 which included the covenant (Album of the Year). Since then, in parallel to Lauryn’s career, we’ve seen a drought when it comes to female rappers that reside within this culture. Kimberly Jones aka “Lil Kim” burst on the scene in 1994 with the group Junior M.A.F.I.A who was introduced to us by the late great Christopher Wallace. During her career, Lil Kim (being no stranger to beef) had an on going feud with fellow Brooklyn resident Foxy Brown. She was loved from the hood to Hollywood until her career was stalled in 2005 for “not snitching” in a shooting related incident at NYC’s radio station HOT 97. Enter 2010 where Onika Tanya Maraj aka “Niki Minaj” has the hottest buzz for a female emcee in years. With both the media and the public labeling Niki with Lil Kim comparisons out the gate, it directly threatened Lil Kim’s throne and is currently igniting what could be looked at as one of the biggest Hip-Hop Beefs we’ve seen amongst female emcees thus far.

Niki Minaj was introduced to the public after an appearance on The Come Up DVD series “The Carter Edition” and immediately contacted by Lil Wayne where the two collaborated on numerous mix tapes. In 2007, she releases her first mix tape Playtime is Over posing as a Barbie doll on the cover being the “Genesis” of many Lil Kim comparisons to come. The most controversial comparison to date is when Niki mirrored the infamous “squat” pose Kim made famous on her album Hardcore using it for her own mix tape Paper Chasin “The Niki Minaj Edition” where she opted for a hoodie and a lollipop. Minaj’s Jekyll & Hyde flow and herky jerky delivery had mixed reviews amongst the masses, but what was unanimous was that her popularity was beginning to grow. By 2008, Niki Minaj officially inked a deal with Young Money and was the first lady of the label. With multiple appearances like “Bedrock” “Roger Dat” and having collaborations from Mariah Carey to Ludacris, there was no denying that Hip-Hop adopted a new female rapper by 2010. However things began to heat up between the two during a concert in Hartford, Connecticut when label mate Drake took shots at the Queen Bee while performing with Niki on stage. Defending Minaj’s honor Drake went on to say “I just wanna say you’re the baddest woman to ever do this rap shit, I don’t give a fuck what Lil Kim or no one else is talking about, you’re the baddest chick to ever do this shit, remember I said that!” Oh and did we remember Drake, because like anyone knows, when you stir up a hornets nest, you will have some angry bees, and the Queen is no exception!

One what was the first of many responses to come from the Queen herself, in a radio interview with Kendra G. Lil Kim addressed the whole beef situation publicly when she stated “Here’s my thing, all females that come in the game, we all need to stick together and I always try my best to embrace them but what happens is when you come into the game and realize that I’m not going away and my fans are still here and they can’t just step over me. They can’t just step on me and then they’re kinda like, they get upset and then they don’t want to be my friend anymore and I think that’s really childish, you know what I’m saying? It’s stupid because all I ask for is to be respected — pay homage at the end of the day, a lot of things go on behind the scenes that people don’t know about and it will be aired out. You can’t hide the truth — when I came out to do this promo tour, it was a reminder of where it came from because if you’re gonna swagger jack somebody and take their style, at least pay the respect and the homage…” Former friend and collaborator Sean “Diddy” Combs was no exception to the shots being fired as she went on a rant during a random performance screaming, “Hey Puffy, you should be ashamed of your fucking self!” Diddy (addressing the beef situation for the first time) went on record and said, “I wanna say I love Lil Kim and I’m sorry that she’s mad. I never would’ve thought that by me working with another artist that she would take it the wrong way, but if she’s taking it the wrong way you know, it ain’t meant like that. You know what I’m saying? It’s just that Niki never did anything to her, Niki never didn’t pay her homage, she ain’t trying to swagger jack or say nothing negative about her and I just think that Kim just needs to understand that Niki as a whole, has always been respectful of her. Niki’s not trying to be her. We ridin with Niki and we ridin with Kim.”

In a genre where the average rap career has a short shelf life, being relevant is of the utter importance when trying to stay afloat in this rap game. Today’s hottest rapper could be tomorrow’s fossil. Is that where our generation is placing Lil Kim? Is she on display at the Museum of Natural History because the majority of Niki’s fans were in elementary school when Kim was relevant? Lil Kim’s Hardcore was regarded as a “Hip-Hop Classic” and some would argue that her verse on Mobb Deep’s Quiet Storm (Remix) was one of the hardest and grittiest ever for a female emcee. “I’m a leader, ya’ll on some following shit, coming in this game on some modeling shit, bitches suck cock just to get to the top, I put 100% in every line I drop!” She wrote that verse eleven years ago and it’s astounding how it could be applied to this situation or many female rappers attempt at entering the rap game. Only in the Hip-Hop industry do our generation forget that every rapper that comes up has gotten their influence from someone who came before them. Let’s not forgot that the reason why Lil Kim hasn’t been relevant for the past couple of years is because she spent time in federal prison for NOT SNITCHING! Her career was stalled because she chose “Loyalty over Dishonor” and that alone should be respected. In a radio interview, by her own admittance she stated, “I go by the loyal book. You know what I mean? That’s just me I just can’t help it. I’ve changed a little bit because I see that a lot of people that I have helped out have not been loyal to me.” So I ask you the reader this question. Are we not loyal to Kim anymore? Has the new generation and industry forgotten how important she was to the game? I certainly haven’t Lil Kim you will FOREVER “Reign Supreme” and continue to be “The Queen Bee”

August 7, 2010 | Categories: Jay Denson Published Articles, Music, News | Leave A Comment »