Celebrity beef has always been an integral part of the entertainment history, with the public eating such news up every time, without fail. One of the most iconic celebrity feuds to take the internet by storm was the infamous Cardi B and Nicki Minaj drama. There have been rumours of the two not getting along since 2017, when Cardi B was making her way onto the music scene to a backdrop of whisperings about her being Nicki Minaj’s replacement.
The two women had insisted that there was no problem between them, but when news that Cardi B and Nicki got into a physical fight at a party, flooded timelines in late 2018, it was the ultimate climax to all the suspected disses and rumours. This erupted with both women taking to social media to call each other out and people actively taking sides.
As of 2019 the beef had quieted down and both women although not best friends had remained cordial with each other. Until September 2022, when Nicki Minaj went on Queen Radio and claimed there was a rapper who used voodoo on her. She stated “Imagine your self-esteem being so low that you resort to voodoo and witchcraft as if you don’t have to pay it back. Am I that much of a threat? Can you fu**ing believe this shit? And y’all know I don’t speak on nothing that I don’t have receipts for. Can you imagine being that much of a weak b*tch?” Many people suspected that she was referring to Cardi B with the rapper herself responding to the allegations, moments later in a since deleted tweet, Nicki Minaj accused someone of copying her fans, once again, referring to Cardi B.
Cardi B then responded with a tweet that said “This sh*t is tiring, old, and redundant, same formula, DIFFERENT YEAR start chaos, drama, and then promote their shit. I actually have a life outside of my house and Twitter. Until b*tches put a @ on it they talking to their mother. Byeeee.” Many people also called Nicki Minaj out for trying to reignite the beef when it was already dusted and done with.
But it would do us some good to investigate why the beef started in the first place. Many people could blame Nicki or Cardi but in truth the music industry has historically always created a hostile environment for women. From the rampant misogyny and the fact that the industry rarely ever makes space for women, especially black women, many female musicians and celebrities are always faced with some form of adversity or the other.
The entertainment industry has historically put highly successful women against each other in the hopes of causing drama or proving that women are incapable of working together without being catty, which is a common misogynistic talking point. Be it Taylor Swift and Katy Perry or Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, the industry loves taking rumours of women in music disliking each other and blowing it out of proportion. This was especially true with Cardi B and Nicki Minaj. This beef started over a couple of tabloids spreading and circulating rumours that the two didn’t get along before it was actually confirmed. The obsession with seeing female celebrities tear each other down or fight carries on a toxic cycle of the public buying into these rumours and adding fuel to the extremely misogynistic flame.
It doesn’t help that the Rap industry is a highly competitive one that rarely makes space for women. There is oftentimes a “there can only be one” mentality especially in the time that the beef first started. Female rappers are treated like only one of them can occupy space at a certain time and that’s not true.
Luckily we are seeing a change in this with more female rappers entering the scene and actively supporting each other. While these feuds and drama might never truly go away, we as a public can continue to support female artists and encourage them to empower one another.