Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, two of the most prominent female rappers of our time, have been in a feud over who is the better rapper. As Cardi B gained popularity from her hit song, “Bodak Yellow”, Nicki Minaj felt pressured to secure her position as the queen of rap. Many thought that their so called “beef” was settling down after the incident at New York Fashion Week, where things turned physical, with Nicki leaving Cardi with swelling on her face. On Oct. 29, both rappers took to social media to vent, accusing each other of being liars and using ghostwriters for their songs. Now, the trending conversation on social media has been about which of these women’s teams people side with, and I’d like to say that neither of them has my sympathy nor my support.
As women of color, there are so many doors that are hard for us to open. We see it all over the media, as far as lack of diversity as a whole, and the last thing we need is two women who should be working together acting like three-year-olds. It was not long ago that we had the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite because, to this day, our society is still hesitant when it comes to people of color. In the rap industry, it can’t be denied that people of color dominate, but we still lack female representation. Cardi and Nicki have been able to stand as that representation for many aspiring female rappers, but this behavior is nauseating.
The industry is dominated by male rappers and both Nicki and Cardi need to be glad that more women are being recognized, instead of giving into the idea that there can only be one woman succeeding. Every other day, there’s a new male rapper coming out with unoriginal names like Lil Uzi Vert or Lil Yachty with overused beats, but all of them are welcome to pursue their craft without competing for the “top.” That narrative amongst female rappers needs to be abandoned and both rappers should use their platform to actually promote each other and women as a whole.
The 2018 Midterm Election is fast approaching, and many celebrities have used their various platforms to encourage people to vote. Cardi B encouraged fans to take voting seriously during her performance at the Global Citizen Festival, and that was a better use of her platform than any of the videos about Nicki she put out over the weekend. It’s bad enough that our society refuses to see women of color as anything other than stereotypes, so it’s even more critical that those with a platform affected by those stereotypes not play right into them. Musically speaking, both women are very talented and there is room for both to coexist, but this nonstop argument makes them undeserving of their platforms.
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