While rap at its outset had its origins in a sort of “peacenik” vibe (see: West African roots), its modern manifestation is–or was–of course perhaps best-loved because of how rife with scintillating beef, or bifteka (as it should be called), it used to be–most especially in the 90s with 2pac v. Biggie representing the larger West Coast v. East Coast rap phenomenon. With the 00s came a softening of rap, mainly because Ja Rule was a phony baloney, but it still had some of its legendary moments, including Jay-Z v. Nas and (the aforementioned) Ja Rule v. 50 Cent. But really, in the post-00s period, we’ve only been able to count on Nicki to bring the petty Betty glamor to the rap game, most notably with Lil’ Kim, Remy Ma and Cardi B.
It is something that Minaj herself is all too aware of, hence releasing “Chun-Li” as the first single from her forthcoming Queen album (cultural appropriation accusations be damned). With lyrics that scream, “They need rappers like me/They need rappers like me/So they can get on their fuckin’ keyboards and make me, the bad guy.” And it’s true, everybody loves a villain, even those who claim they just want peace. But so long as there’s peace, there can be no differentiation between who’s “good” and who’s “bad.” And since Minaj is the only one left with any cojones willing to do so, she remains an especial beacon of light through her so-called “negative” darkness. It is thus that she pointed out in a recent interview with Elle just how “goody-goody and kumbaya” the rap and hip hop genres have become, further adding, “That’s not the kind of rap I grew up on. But rap is different now. You gotta pretend you like people and stuff. Everybody’s gotta get on the bandwagon. They get on the love bandwagon, and they get on the hate bandwagon.”
Minaj is so assured of herself that she also has no fear of engaging in bifteka with Twitter trolls either, like when she said to one accusing her of hypocrisy, “Suck my dick ASSHOLE. Had u read the article, I was critiquing MYSELF more than ANYTHING. What I SAID was: I HOPE my overt sexual LYRYCS & PHOTOS don’t make my fans THINK that I’m telling them to be promiscuous & to know their worth! Lyrics, photos & FUCKING r all 3 diff things.” The girl has no fear when it comes to “projecting an image” for the sake of appearing “dainty” or “cute” like, I guess, Cardi B is supposed to.
Though we live in a time that is so vehement about encouraging nothing but supportiveness and “safe spaces,” it really makes things have this sense of the counterfeit, as though we’re living in a simulation (which we probably are at this point). Everyone’s so concerned about one another’s feelings (even though no one actually has any, unless narcissism is a feeling) that it’s impossible for a rapper to even feel comfortable saying anything of a vitriolic nature–which, in the past, would’ve been expected of them for the sake of controversy and the album sales that come with it.
But with the landscape as faux nurturing as it currently is, everyone must be on their quote unquote best behavior, which generally fosters the West Coastian trait of passive aggressiveness. In Minaj’s case, it’s outward aggression at its simplest, with her urging of fans to go beat up the guy that called her a hypocrite causing a further war between them as the pop culture commentator returned, “To be harassed, bullied and threatened due to a celebrity inciting violence, with over 150 million followers across her social media pages & telling them to beat me is WRONG!” So yes, Minaj treads dangerous territory when it comes to appropriateness. That’s why she’s probably more talked about in general (especially once the fizzle out of Everything Is Love happens when people realize how fucking boring it is because Beyonce is no longer vengeful).
What’s more, Nicki is taking her aesthetic trajectory to elegante avenues (that Mert and Marcus album cover, that Karl Lagerfeld photoshoot, the Giovanni Bianco-directed “Barbie Tingz“) that only add more irony to her willingness to bring the bifteka wherever she goes and if she feels it’s warranted. That’s why, as Devin Gordon, the writer of the now infamous Elle interview, remarked, “She can knife someone without even saying her, or his, name. She may have done it a couple of times today—that vague reference to ‘New York rappers’ who ‘sound like people down south.'” But rap needs that knife…otherwise it’s just so utterly dull.
