HOLLYWOOD—Just this past weekend, Cardi B’s ongoing feud with Nicki Minaj turned physical over the weekend as the pair clashed at a New York Fashion Week event. Footage posted on TMZ showed the pair trading verbal insults, with Cardi eventually throwing a red-heeled shoe at Minaj after allegedly being elbowed in the face by a security guard. Minaj appeared unscathed from the incident.
The exclamation mark key on Cardi’s smartphone took a much worse battering as the rapper continued the beef on Instagram, in a post which also featured a great deal of bad language. It’s certainly not the first music industry feud in history. It’s not even the first Nicki Minaj feud with another female rapper in history. Remember, Nicki Minaj and Lil’ Kim.
If a new female rapper arrives on the music scene and Lil’ Kim doesn’t start a fight with her – did she ever even exist? Kim has history with Eve, Foxy Brown, Remy Ma and many more… but those were small fry compared to when Nicki Minaj appeared in the late 00s.
Nicki’s debut album “Pink Friday” was a massive success when it was released in 2010, but Lil’ Kim opted not to send flowers. In a diss track she put online called “Black Friday,” Kim described Nicki as a “Lil’ Kim wannabe” who was “trying to clone my style.” Minaj, naturally, responded with a diss track of her own, called “Stupid H**.” Which drew attention to the fact that her records were “shipping platinum,” while Kim remained “busted” and “crusty.” Things have now, of course, come full circle, with Nicki Minaj now the one feeling threatened by a newcomer and entering a public battle with the aforementioned Cardi B.
Let’s take a look at some of the music feuds between artists: When Lady Gaga dropped “Born This Way” in 2011, a few people thought it sounded vaguely familiar. One of those people was Madonna, who thought it was so similar to her 1989 hit “Express Yourself” that she performed putting the two songs together as a mash-up on tour.
Back in 2015, Madonna said, “The only time I ever criticized Lady Gaga was when I felt like she blatantly ripped off one of my songs.”
“It’s got nothing to do with ‘she’s taking my crown’ or ‘she’s in some space of mine.’ She has her thing. I do think she’s a very talented singer and songwriter. It was just that one issue.” That one issue, however, was enough to spark a feud which lasted several years. Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta -addressed it in her documentary “Five Foot Two,” released last year, suggesting that she was disappointed that Madonna didn’t speak to her about it directly.
Who could forget Kanye West and Taylor Swift? The beef stems from the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Kanye wasn’t too impressed with Taylor winning Female Video of the Year for “You Belong With Me.” He thought it should’ve been Beyonce’s “Single Ladies
instead. And, as we know, Kanye is not the type to bottle up his feelings. The rapper took to the stage during Taylor’s acceptance speech, grabbed the microphone, and said:
“Taylor, I’m really happy for you, and I’mma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!” The pair later made up, but a few years down the line, West claimed in his single “Famous,” that the run-in had helped Swift’s career. Taylor claimed she had never given West’s lyrics her blessing before the song was released, but then the rapper’s wife Kim Kardashian got involved, posting a Snapchat which appeared to show Taylor doing just that. Swift, however, countered on Twitter that she hadn’t specifically approved the lyric about him having made her famous. At the 2016 Grammys, Swift said: “I want to say to all the young women out there – there are going to be people along the way who are going to try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.” But, she advised her fans: “Just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you.” Taylor also made some digs at Kanye in her single “Look What You Made Me Do,” stating, “I don’t like your tilted stage, the role you made me play,” she sang.
Probably best to finish on one that has a happy ending. Rihanna and Ciara. RiRi and CiCi, as they should never have been nicknamed, both launched their careers in 2005 – with Ciara topping the charts with “Goodies” and Rihanna hitting number two with “Pon De Replay.” They were the young bright hopes of R&B and even went on tour together. But a few years later things turned sour. “I ran into her recently at a party and she wasn’t the nicest,” explained Ciara in 2011. “It wasn’t the most pleasant run-in.” They then followed the most glorious of Twitter exchanges and made up.
Rose’s Scoop: Happy Belated Birthday to Kelly Olszuk, who shared the birthday with Pink on September 8.
