They say to never meet your idols for one reason, you don’t know who they are off cameras. With this said, over the history of pop culture we’ve seen many popular battles. In this writing I will be focusing on the female rapper category and their rap beefs. Before I go on, this is my opinion on this topic. I know not everyone will agree with what I say. Sadly not all women get along especially in today’s toxic fan societies.
Most fan bases tend to pin women against each other and make it a competition as to who is on top. This creates tension between the two artists already; secondly, it causes new fans to have to pick a side. It also spawns fake lies and rumors about both sides. Us as fans should just listen and enjoy the music. There should never be a point where you have to stop listening to an artist because of who they are fighting with online. Essentially my point is that you could listen to Kanye West and Taylor Swift and not feel guilty. If you are at a point where you have to be unfollowing other artists that you like, that is toxic and you are part of the problem.
Nicki Minaj vs. Cardi B
One of the most popular cases of toxic fan bases is Nicki Minaj and Cardi B.
If you have never heard about this, you are living under a rock. This all took place during 2017. Nicki Minaj was dominating the female rap industry; she was one of the only female rappers at that time. She opened doors for so many young and upcoming new artists. One of them being a rapper that goes by the name of Cardi B. Cardi B’s most popular song and her first hit, or as she says “the song that made me rich” was “Bodak Yellow.” After this single was released, Cardi B became a worldwide name.
As I explained before, fan bases can be toxic and make competitions. As you can guess, Nicki Minaj’s fan base (who are called “The Barbs”) did not take Cardi B as an exception, things quickly turned ugly between the “Bardi gang” (Cardi B’s fan base) and The Barbs.
Over time, it was constant back and forth between the two fandoms. This all came to a halt in October 2017. Nicki Minaj titled “The Queen of Rap” and Cardi B were now about to collaborate. The whole world thought this would unite them, including myself. I loved both of them. The only thing I wanted was them to be friends and produce music together. Unfortunately, things went south. Migos added Cardi B to their Culture II single: “Motorsport.” This turned out to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. After the song’s video was released in November, news of behind-the-scenes drama between the two began to trickle out.
After that had happened this caused a great disaster with many people bashing Mostly Cardi B and Nicki Minaj. No one knows what really went down off camera, this was the start of a long and still ongoing battle of female rappers.
Nicki Minaj vs Megan thee Stallion
History repeats itself. In 2024, we still see these same exact problems and toxic fans. A great example of this would be Nicki Minaj vs. Megan Thee stallion. Megan Thee Stallion rose to fame as she released her hit single “Savage,” even getting Beyoncé to hop on the remix. Megan Thee Stallion was not hesitant to express her love for Nicki Minaj. Nicki acknowledged this and they eventually made a single together “Hot Girl Summer.” Sadly, shortly after it was released the fan bases started pinning Megan and Nicki against each other. Essentially what ended up happening to Cardi B happened to Megan, especially when Megan Thee stallion collaborated with Cardi B in 2020. This was a turning point because The Barbs now see Megan as a threat because she’s linking up with people who don’t like Nicki and who Nicki doesn’t like.
Fans took to Twitter making up rumors and saying hateful things about both artists. After that it’s been nothing but constant comparisons and sneaky lyrics.
Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion would now be at war.
Almost every song these two artists produced after 2020 had lyrics with sneaky and secret meanings to them.
The Barbs and the “hotties” (Megan Thee Stallion’s fan base) would now take the job of deciphering all the sneak disses and secret meanings behind each song they would produce.
Artist’s make music for fans to enjoy and to vibe to. Making death threats and cyberbullying people should never be the answer. Fans take it to the extreme defending an artist who doesn’t even know they exist.
I’m not saying you can’t say or express anything online, but there is a thick line between common sense and idiotic hurtful behavior, otherwise known as bullying.
At the end of day, female rappers are now one of the greatest artists in the industry. But the fan bases are a key factor on how these artists treat each other. If you find yourself writing hateful tweets or comments and cyberbullying people all due to the fact of “rap beef,” you are part of the problem.
