As you know, hip hop is not really my area of expertise, but this weekend, you couldn’t really get around this beef between Nicki Minaj and Remy Ma. I had seriously never heard of the latter, but that is logical as I mainly follow mainstream stuff and checked out of the hip hop scene ages ago. Catching up on the history of the two, I learned that Remy feels Nicki got the big break she deserved, while she was locked up in jail and Nicki has burned bridges with the past. Oh, and they had been friends, apparently, at some point when Remy actually seemed to have the head start as an upcoming rapper.
Beefs like these have always been something like a mystery to me. I mean, I understand that rappers battle each other on the mic, but it’s like there’s an unspoken rule in that. Or so I thought. The rule is you can say anything in the battle, bring anyone into the battle, say anything - true or not - but you can only do that at the time of the battle and the other party is present for that – ready to fire back. All is forgiven after.
But taking to the mic in a recording studio and laying down a 7 minute diss track is a different kind of story. The disses between the two have actually been going back and forth since 2007. What an incredible duration to hold a grudge! So, I consider these beefs as just another way to get everyone talking about all the parties again, and this time, most of the hip hop scene got dragged in. Free publicity for all.
And that is, indeed, how some people saw it too. Some artists mentioned in Remy Ma’s “shETHER” track took to their social media channels to promptly post flyers of their upcoming appearances. Why wouldn’t you when the whole world is probably checking out your Instagram to see what you have to say about all of this?
In fact, it was an article about Trey Songz’ involvement or non-involvement, and non-willingness to say so, and Nicki’s reaction to that, that directed my attention to the beef in the first place. Otherwise, I would’ve remained in ignorant bliss. Hallelujah. But even that was what you would call a spin off.
What amazed me even more, was that Beyoncé even tried to take advantage of the beef. While the main music press was picking up the story, Beyoncé announced her new collaboration with Nicki. She couldn’t let this opportunity pass her by either. Such a shame(less thing to do).
