Richardine Bartee
At the end of a detailed interview with Beats 1 radio host Zane Lowe this afternoon, Nicki Minaj released ‘Barbie Tingz’ and ‘Chun-Li’. Before the highly-anticipated releases, people around the web alleged that lyrics from the music were about Cardi B, but during her interview, Minaj cleared up the rumours. Before we go on, personally, I think it is good to talk about differences in person, or on wax, so there’s no issue there. If you don’t like someone, you are entitled to that. As a creative and a professional, you also have the right to be coy or bold about it, but something else happened.
If you have yet to listen to the audio, Minaj explained her side of things. Shortly after, the Queens rapper was emotional; started to cry on air. We think there will be some rebuttal and backlash from either Cardi B, her sister, or the Migos; that is also fine. Additionally, we hope Quavo reaches out to her to handle it privately.
Next, she acknowledged other women—on the comeup—which is huge for someone of her stature. From the looks of it though, social media didn’t forget to point when Minaj was on her way up. We don’t know the details of what happened between Lil Kim and Nicki Minaj, but it wasn’t pretty. Fans alike are calling it karmic returns.
Plainly, Lil Kim and Foxy Brown are the youngest and most influential and iconic rappers of their time. No one can take that from them, but they came up in a different time. Subsequently, they are, without a doubt, admirable and seminal. Mimicking and other forms of flattery come with the territory. It is inevitable. Humans like what they like. Now, back to their era.
At the beginning stages of the musical genre until the early 2000s (before the social media), you had to show your respect to those before you. It was permitted.
Exhibit: 6ix9ine. No, he is not from Houston, but he crossed paths of a family calling shots in Texas for a long time. On the contrary, new artists that blossom today are unprecedented. They are self-made with the aid of the world wide web.
As I’ve said off-record and on-record many times, we are missing infrastructure that teaches younger generations how to get ahead—respectively. Not all of our parents are in the industry. Hell, some of us don’t have parents. We might have one. What are we going to do? Make sure we teach those who come under us.
Today, I admired how she showed love to the newcomers. It takes a lot for someone on her level to co-sign potential competitors. I’m glad she is leading by example and displaying personal growth—especially with her remark about Azealia Banks.
Without further ado, do what you came to do though. Listen to both songs ‘Barbie Tingz’ and Chun-Li’ produced by Chevy Music and J Reid for Chevy Muzic below. Nicki Minaj also gets co-production credit on both songs. Congratulations! Also, watch lyric video below for ‘Barbie Tingz’ to read the lyrics. The queen also teases a snippet from the forthcoming music video.
