Too Many Queens on the Scene: Nicki Minaj and Cardi B Face-Off

by Kerry Torpey on September 20, 2018


Arts & Entertainment


Rappers Nicki Minaj (left) and Cardi B (right)
PHOTO COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

by Madeline Weaver-Nolting ’19

A&E Staff

Two of the most well-known and popular female rappers in today’s music, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, recently got into a physical altercation at New York Fashion Week. The feud escalated dramatically as the public began taking sides in defending one over the other. 

Their relationship has always been complicated—but whether it is because they actually do not like one another or because society pits them against one another is unclear.

One problem is that Minaj feels Cardi B treats her with disrespect. In an interview with Apple Music Beat 1, Minaj said, “I really fully supported [Cardi B] and up until this recent interview, I had never seen her show me genuine love in an interview. I can just imagine how many girls wish they could of been on a song with Nicki Minaj. I’m not saying it in a cocky way.” Being a musician with more experience, Minaj appears to see herself as a veteran that Cardi B should “wish” she could collaborate with.

Both Cardi B and Minaj, however, seem to be treated differently than their male counterparts because everyone picks sides as to which one to support and cannot choose both. In a now deleted tweet, Minaj said, “These are men in our culture who simply refuse to let it go. They don’t do this to male M.C.’s.” Minaj implies that she and Cardi B do not have much, if any, tension between them and that it is all gossip; society is making drama out of nothing and putting two of the most successful female rappers against one another. 

Cardi B feels similarly. She says that the two talked it out at the Met Gala and continued to say in an interview with Howard Stern, “I never was feuding with anybody. There was a misunderstanding. She felt a certain type of way about something and I definitely felt a certain type of way about something. Didn’t want to ever talk about it in public …It’s always little issues but the thing is, fans are always gonna make it a big thing. I spoke to her about it. It’s just like, see? It was just something that it had to be talked about.” Cardi B says that they worked it all out, but fans will always try to add fuel to the fire when there is nothing to fight about.

The video-recorded fight that broke out between Minaj and Cardi B is complicated because no one will admit to what was said to start the brawl. Cardi B says that Minaj insulted her skills as a mother of her newborn daughter, Kulture. Minaj is pointing her finger at her opponent as the one who started it all. Minaj said in an interview months before the fight, “To me, [Cardi B] may have taken an issue with things that I’ve said, but I’m not going to bite my tongue… You gotta have thick skin.” 

The feud between Minaj and Cardi B seems to have not reached a conclusion. There is, however, a question of the authenticity behind the quarrel as it goes viral.