Dear Nicki Minaj: Please Don’t Go Off the Cliff for a Reality Star

By:  H.T., Website:  Rogue Black Nerd

When it comes to Nicki Minaj, I won’t lie and say I was a fan or that I cared enough to say that I hated her.  That being said, all that I see happening to her is something that I wouldn’t wish on anyone but for her I can’t fully be surprised it happened at the point it did.  Within the last year and previous month before she released her latest album “Queen”, Nicki has had a rough time.  Her records weren’t getting the same level of play, the media turned their back on her, she failed to ignite good press with a “relationship” with Eminem, her exes left and started to have a bit of fame without her, her brother was tried and convicted for child molestation, and then there was the ubiquitous threat to her career that is Cardi B.

Cardi, for what it’s worth, gets the edge for me between the two because of what I’ve seen of Cardi on TV and through her music, she comes off as a far less abrasive and a much more genuine person that Nicki has ever been since she hit the scene.  Before anyone says it, I could say the same about men to; 50 Cent came off the same way as Cardi compared to Ja Rule, as did Game compared to 50, as J Cole did to Drake, as Kendrick does to rappers like Future, Childish Gambino to Chris Brown and for a short frame of time, as Kanye did initially to Jay Z.  Being more relatable or less abrasive does not mean said artist is objectively better, but it does mean that having to see them in the media makes listening to their music less of a chore and makes coming up with an honest opinion of said artist a bit easier to accomplish.

That being said, Nicki has made a pretty flawed move in lashing out at, well everyone.  Nicki is undoubtedly a bigger star than Cardi and I’m just being honest, there’s nothing about her career so far that says she’s guaranteed longevity.  Nicki has outlasted COUNTLESS other female MCs that either weren’t even close to her in talent or could at the very least keep up.  Her lashing out over shaky album sales or issues with DJs and other artists as we’ve seen with Kanye, yes, you can have bad press that will make your name toxic to attach to anything.

I say all this because I simply don’t understand what has convinced her that the best option for dealing with a scrappy up and comer or competition in general is to just to throw a tantrum.  It’s almost as if she learned literally nothing from Remy Ma’s Hannibal in the Second Punic war march through her career, and figured she could just pretend there was no legit threat to her career.  Theoretically, Nicki could easily crossover far easier than Cardi can now.  Yes, she did songs with Bruno Mars and Maroon 5, but Nicki has worked with Drake, Romeo Santos, Ariana Grande, Big Sean, Britney Spears, Usher, and BEYONCE.  My point is she could easily fix her career IF SHE STOPS NOW, apologizes to the everyone and just focuses on her career instead of screaming about how she’s better than anyone that manages to get just a little bit of heat on her career.

I take back what I said I said earlier, I don’t hate her.  I think she clear as day has talent that annoys me, not because of her or simply her actions, but that she’s seriously losing her shit over one an up and comer that is also good, but lets be honest, will likely not be able to take her career to the levels she has.  Honestly, for as much as I’m not sure I could say I was a fan of her Pink Friday era work, I can say that it made her a household name, and frankly that might be the best route for her to go.  Honestly, for all the few years she’s had to deal with accusations of her going pop but no one giving the same shit to her contemporaries that also do the same, I think the best option is to love the bomb and frankly trying to compete as the street artist has become a bit of an albatross as it tends to stick her in situations where she’s left arguing with irrelevant artists at best and at worst arguing with a reality tv star that frankly is likable, but as I said, does not make them MORE TALENTED.  Ok, so she lost out on a tour, but that doesn’t mean she’s finished.  Honestly, even if she’s not the next Lil’ Kim, she can easily go into pop and be the black Katy Perry of sorts as really she’s only stooped this low just to shake off the accusation she’s selling out, which at the end of the day, every successful rapper, regardless of age, gender, sexuality, religion, race or the content of their music does:  sell out seeing as if they are successful, SOMEONE wanted to buy in.

If I could say one thing to her directly, it would be that this is not the end, but rather a sign that methinks you’ve proven all you can by being the number one female rapper in hip hop alone.  Sure, people will pull out the comparison between you and legends like Lauryn Hill, but it should be a good sign you’ve earned the right to fairly be compared to such talent.  I think, and I know my opinion doesn’t matter in the big picture, but I think you might just want to focus mainly on pop records for a time.  Cardi might be big, but I can say just by her existing body of work, she’s only gotten where she’s at now because of the hype machine that is both very fickle and lacking in an attention span.  An honest and earnest apology (IF you are using drugs, sober up get help and don’t tell the public about it) and hard work will fix all this in due time.