What's Beef?: A Debate about Competition in Hip Hop

Come on, everybody...y'all knew we was gonna have to talk about this sooner or later. This Nicki Minaj/Foxy Brown vs Remy Ma beef has been the topic of Twitter for the past couple of weeks....so it's time we have an honest conversation about it. Pull up a chair, people. We got some sh*t to speak about.

For those of you who have been sleeping under a rock, here's a summary of what's been going on;

Remy Ma currently has a collaboration album Plato O Plomo out with her Terror Squad family Fat Joe. With the spotlight on them right now, Remy has been making a promo run, stealing the show with several freestyles and guest verses. Eyebrows were raised when she dropped bars on Phresher's Wait A Minute, and they seem to be aimed at a certain female adversary. Rem stated repeatedly that she wasn't going at Nicki...but I'll let you be the judge.

(skip to 2:07 for Remy's verse)

Apparently, Nicki felt some type of way about it....as she responded back on Gucci Mane's "Make Love" and Jason DeRulo's "Swalla".

(Fast forward to 1:44 and 2:15 respectively)

After that, "SHEther" dropped. I ain't 'eem gonna show the video for that one. We all heard what was said. Remy pulled Nicki's card HARD. Dragging her about her fake derrière, her ghostwriting accusations, bruh...she even touched on Nicki's brother's molestation charges (Cotdamn, I didn't wanna make that pun. Sorry, y'all).

Since then, we've heard Foxy Brown get into it, Remy dropped "Another One", and Nicki took forever to respond with "No Frauds". All good for hip hop, right? In actuality, this beef has been brewing for a while if you've done your research, and it makes for a good storyline.

Before she went to jail, Rem was the hottest thing out. Everybody remembers her show stealing verse on 2004's Lean Back, and she also had dropped and album with some moderate success. While Remy was locked up from 2007 to 2014, who took advantage? A young upcoming femcee named Nicki Minaj. It was only a matter of time before their paths would cross.

But let's cut to the chase here. There are THREE major details going on in this beef that some of y'all aren't paying attention to (either that, or y'all just being delusional). And oh yeah, if you're a Nicki stan, stop reading...cuz you'll probably get mad. But...I GOTTA tell the truth!

1. Sales/Popularity Don't Mean ANYTHING.

When "SHEther" first dropped, social media waiting anxiously for Nicki's response. Nicki would soon drop an Instagram post of Remy's album sales. As always, the Barbz came out and backed up their queen. Some even said that she didn't HAVE to respond just because she was more relevant.

"Remy ain't 'eem relevant! When's the last time she had a hit?"

"Nicki got more sales anyway; Remy's just looking for attention"

"Nicki shouldn't even respond to the haters. We ALL know who the REAL queen of Rap is!" *insert nail polish emoji here*

This is EXACTLY why stans hurt the culture, but we'll get into that later.

Maybe I'm showing my age here (I'm only 25), but THIS IS RAP. If someone challenges your crown, you gotta fight back especially if they are a worthy opponent, which Remy surely is. Jay Z was arguably more popular than Nas at the time of their infamous beef in 2001. That didn't stop neither of them from battling to see who was the BEST. If you don't think you're the best in whatever it is you do, then what the hell are you doing it for??? Somewhere along the line, we forgot that bars and skill are the basis of this culture.

This is not to say Nicki doesn't have the skill to hang with Remy, She just has to prove it. Are you really the Queen of Rap? Prove it then!

2. In Beef, there are No Boundaries.

A lot of being thought that "SHEther" was disrespectful....and it was. That's the point of a diss track: to belittle your opponent. An emcee must have tough skin.

Which brings me to Foxy Brown.

Remy took a stab at the veteran Foxy in "SHEther" ( "Talkin' sh*t about me to a deaf b***h), which lead her to go at Remy in "The Break's Over", a freestyle over Jay-Z's "Takover". In it, she took aim at Remy's recent miscarriage. A low blow indeed, but this is nothing new. Tupac once told Biggie that he slept with Faith Evans. The point is that rap has ALWAYS been a competitive bloodsport, kind of like WWE. Sure it can be violent sometimes but it's all entertainment. As long as it stays on wax and doesn't turn into a deadly situation, it's fine. Twisted way to look at it, I know. But if Hov and Nas can get pass all the disrespectful stuff they said to each other, then anyone can.

Last but not least....

3. Learn To Admit When Your Favorite Artist Has Taken a Loss

This right here has to be the thing that irks me the most about Nicki Minaj stans (or stans of any artist in general). If your favorite rapper is looking bad out there....THEN ADMIT IT!

Let's keep it a buck here. Nicki lost. Plain and simple. She first took a loss when she posted the IG post about sales instead of going to the studio and dropping something like a real emcee would. She took another one when she took too long respond to Remy. During that time she beefed with radio personalities and other celebrities who weren't on her side.

I remember the good old days when guys like 50 and Ja Rule, T.I. and Lil' Flip were beefing. If one person dropped a diss record you heard a response a few days later. In some cases, a few hours. Nicki ran for two weeks, and then finally responded with "No Frauds" after a misstep by Remy (Yeah, Another One was a dud. Remy shoulda left that one in the clip). Not only was No Frauds weak, but she brought Wayne and Drake along for the ride, the same two people that Rem accused Nicki of having ghostwritten for her. In my eyes, this was an opportunity for Nicki to silence the critics. Bringing Weezy and Drizzy in the mix is equivalent to bringing your big brothers to the playground to fight the bully who stole your lunch money.

When you add all that up, the leader of the Barbz has taken so many L's to the face, you'd think she had a smoking session with Snoop and Wiz. Clearly Meek rubbed off on her. Sorry, folk...just calling it how I see it. Nicki lost. Was it career ending? No, but it does show tiny chinks in her amour. What will she do when the next chick goes at her? Defend the crown...or run?

In conclusion, let me say that this not a "I hate Nicki Minaj" article. I liked Nicki before she got popular, and I give credit where it due. When she's focused, she can rap with the best of them, and she may go down as one of the greats. But somebody's gotta tell the brutal truth, so she's gotta hold this L.

We NEED beef and rivalries in hip hop to keep it alive; the competition is what makes the culture so fun. Nowadays rappers are way too friendly with each other. So salute to Remy Ma for bringing that back, even if it's just for a little while.

Til next time,

Ghost