Lil' Kim vs. Nicki Minaj: Hip-hop trash talk has its value

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Rapper Nicki Minaj wanted to rumble with the self-proclaimed Queen Bee of hip-hop, now Lil’ Kim is basking in the hex she dropped on the rising female emcee over the weekend.

Black Friday saw millions of people rushing to stores and since it’s release, over a million people have listened to Kim’s “Black Friday” diss record on YouTube.

The 6-minute record, which samples Pharoahe Monche’s “Simon Says” beat, put Minaj in the cross-hairs of Kim’s lyrical assault and called out the de facto Lil’ Kim of this generation for biting her style without respecting her elder.

The song was inspired by Minaj’s track, “Roman’s Revenge,” which featured jabs implying Kim is a “has been”, and a Hot 97 interview where Minaj claimed Kim “really jumped out the window” and warned Kim to be careful whom she picks fights with.

LISTEN TO LIL’ KIM’S ‘BLACK FRIDAY’ HERE:
[youtubevid http://youtube.com/watch?v=MYaIGEGQvYw?fs=1&hl=en_US]

Kim’s response was a laundry list of well-worn Minaj criticism that called the rising emcee a “clone clown,” “fraud,” “gimmick,” and made light of her rumored butt pads or injections and her ditzy media persona. Kim also took swipes at Minaj collaborators Diddy, Drake and Lil Wayne.

While her outburst wasn’t nearly Jay-Z’s “Takeover,” Nas’s “Ether” or 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up,” her laser-focused criticism raised interesting points about the state of female emcees in hip hop, the changing of the guard and at what point does emulation through admiration become outright “swagger jacking.”

As far as female emcees go, it’s hard to have the discussion without mentioning Lil’ Kim. While you could argue MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Jean Grae and others were lyrically superior, none of them put together the package that sold more than just music but an image.

No female rapper has mastered the art of selling sex in hip-hop quite like her. There’s her direct links to the Notorious B.I.G., the “Hip-Hop Eshu: Queen Bitch 101” college course as Syracuse University that argues her overt sexuality was pioneering, while debating her role in challenging chauvinism the genre. Add to that, music that combines it’s sexual reality with a infallible street credibility and it’s something no other woman in her genre has duplicated. Yet.

Enter Nicki Minaj, who’s been this era’s closest comparison to Kim, while other female emcees like Rah Digga and Foxy Brown face legal issues and land closer towards Kim in their career trajectories.

It’s impossible for Minaj to be doing what she does now without Kim, but she’s taken what we thought Kim had perfected and injected new life.

It’s not just Kim 2.0 but it’s Lil’ Kim on HGH Her appeal has hit places Kim’s never did although to two are wrapped in strikingly identical packages.
Her lingering bi-curiosity and grandiose lyrics aside, Minaj has filled a void in the genre, not necessarily for talented female emcees (because those exist), but commercially viable female emcees that can jump on a track with the boys and hold their own, like she did on Kanye West’s “Monster” alongside he, Jay-Z and Rick Ross.

But Lil’ Kim’s not exactly ready to pass the torch. Just like the rest of hip-hop, artists aren’t hitting that point where they stop making new material and tour on the hits, at the same age. Look at the top of the charts and nearly everyone in the genre is either over a decade in or well into their 30s and steadfastly against the new regime of artists, looking to claim their position.

Drama may be exactly what it takes to get the female emcee discussion back in the forefront and create the opportunity for more than just Minaj to be heard. Ironically, drama is exactly what Minaj may be built for.

The graduate of NYC’s famed LaGuardia High School studied the performing arts at the school best known for Fame and alums like Pacino, De Niro, Laurence Fishburne, Slick Rick and countless others who have reshaped the visual and performing arts in America. She’s incorporated that part of her experience into her music, which strangely makes her rapping in strange and foreign voices, from multiple point-of-views, probably the most authentic thing about her music.

The real question is whether this 1.0/2.0 dynamic can co-exist. It doesn’t seem to be a problem in other genres where similar criticism is made. You don’t see Madonna producing Lady Gaga diss records for doing pretty much the same thing.

All signs point to Minaj not going anywhere, anytime soon. Tons of people tuned in last night, away from football and the Soul Train Awards, to watch her documentary on MTV, where she put some of those acting skills on display.

First week sales of her debut album, Pink Friday, have been projected in the 375,000-425,000 range, only trailing Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Sure, we’ve seen it before. But maybe, just maybe, Nicki Minaj will take it to another level. There’s a great possibility that Lil’ Kim’s relevance will never be where it once was and even if it does come close, there may be room for two. If not, we all seem down to watch (or listen to) a good, old-fashioned rap battle for the top spot.