Should Megan Thee Stallion Give Us The Rap Battle Nicki Minaj Has Denied Us For So Long?
Updated: May 9
"HOT DAMN HOE, HERE WE GO AGAIN"
“You know what scares people? Success. When you don’t make moves and you don’t climb up the latter, everybody loves you because you’re not competition”
"Hot Damn Hoe Here We Go Again" is not only the classic intro from MC Lyte's "10% diss" but also sums up my thoughts when asked what I think about Nicki Minaj allegedly throwing shots at Megan Thee Stallion again.
Last week, should have been all about celebrating the re-release of "Beam Me Up Scotty" but it ended up being dominated by talks about who Nicki Minaj was referring to when she said, "These bitches thirsty, I can see why they alcoholics."
"Here @ Young Money, we don't do diss records; we drop HIT RECORDS & diss u ON them. I got a bunch more on cock. Pauz."- Nicki Minaj
In true Nicki fashion, she left it up to her STANs to run around social media like messenger pigeons to deliver the news that her shots on the Lil Wayne and Drake-assisted track, "Seeing Green," were directed at Megan. That then spreads to the blogs/Youtubers, etc.
This is where I have to hold Nicki Minaj's feet, or should I say mic to the fire. For far too long, she has put Pop Nicki ahead of Rap Nicki and, in doing so, has deprived us of a possible classic rap battle between her
and another rapper. Pop Nicki thought "No Frauds" and subsequent shots were a good enough response to a diss track from someone she once had in her Top 5. I am not saying Nicki can't think brand first, but Drake was in a similar position with Meek and rose to the occasion. There is no shame in losing a rap battle, but there is shame in ducking one.
In 2017, when Remy Ma hit Nicki Minaj with "Shether," despite it being trash IMO, the one thing I recognize
is that Remy Ma went DIRECTLY at Nicki and did not speak through her fans or DJ. She even @'d Nicki on Twitter to make sure she knew the track was about her in case the artwork and name drop weren't big enough clues. This could have been a FOR THE CULTURE moment. This was an opportunity for Nicki to show everyone who thought she was too Pop that she can still "Pop Shit" and take down a respected battle rapper, but Nicki, in the words of Ms. Deb. "Didn't give people what they wanted." Instead, she informed the world that "Young Money"….um, I think Nicki meant "she" does not do diss records.
LOWERING THE BAR / LET THERE BE WAR
"It ain't directed so it ain't respected, Stop droppin' clues 'cause I ain't no detective, bitch"
So, 12-years after Beam Me Up Scotty and 4 years after "Shether," Nicki Minaj has tons of songs taking shots at various rappers but has no classic rap battle to speak of. Not like Nicki needs one because even with that box unchecked, she is still a top 50 rapper in my book. But, that is a criteria that could bump her up higher on many people lists.
Nonetheless, Nicki's preferred choice of throwing shots while on tracks with other artists instead of writing one solo diss track to get a bitch out of here is the reason the bar has been lowered when it comes to female rap beefs. "Seeing Green" is the "son" of "No Frauds," just less direct. The girls study Nicki, and now female "diss tracks" consist of indirect shots, which gives the girls wiggle room to deny any beef and blame fans or media. Which, yes, fans and media do often spark the beefs, but once you are foolish enough to allow your fans to make you take a shot at another rapper, you should own that. MCs are
supposed to control the crowd, not the other way around. Don't allow your STANs to put you in a losing situation.
Some may argue that you can't blame Nicki for girls not dropping proper diss tracks. You also can't say that for 10 years, Nicki Minaj set the bar in female rap; everyone copies her and is her son, but then try to distance her from having any influence on how rap beefs often play out between women. While Nicki Minaj set the bar very high when it comes to writing rhymes, lyrics, flow, cadence, branding, sales, etc. Nicki Minaj made it acceptable for girls to duck rap battles, especially if the would-be opponent is deemed less successful.
Unfortunately, when the female artists finally reach that pillar of serious success, it somehow makes them exempt from competition, as if they are invincible.