Is Nikki Minaj a Hater?

If you caught this year’s BET Awards show you may also have some questions in regards to the motivation behind Nikki Minaj’s statement that suggested at least one of her fellow nominees does not write her own lyrics. If you didn’t happen to catch the show yet, Nikki ever so casually mentioned (dripping with sarcasm) in her Best Female Hip-Hop Artist Award acceptance speech, “when you hear Nikki Minaj spit, Nikki Minaj wrote it”. It was assumed by myself as well as other viewers I spoke with that Nikki was tossing that bit of “shade” at up and coming female hip-hop artist Iggy Azalea since Iggy was the only other artist in the category who has made a relevant impact in sales and on the charts. I also made that assumption because of Nikki’s posing as if for selfies when the camera panned her way during Iggy’s performance. It appears as though Iggy is taking the highroad to Nikki’s comment or maybe does not feel a retort is necessary since she is listed as a writer on all the songs on her debut album The New Classic. 

But if Iggy Azalea wrote on all her songs then who was Minaj’s jab being aimed at? Eve is listed as a writer on all the tracks on her most recent album Lip Lock and the same goes for Angel Haze on her album Dirty Gold.   Charlie Baltimore may have been added  as a nominee just to round out the category because she has not had an album to release since 1999, so it’s safe to say she was not the intended target of Minaj’s statement. Could it be that Nikki Minaj is just hating on Iggy’s success since her debut album is the highest charting female rap album since Nikki’s album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded? 

Whatever Minaj’s motive, my professional advice to Nikki is don’t hate, collaborate. Seeing as how the female presence in hip-hop is not strong because of there being so few female hip-hop artists, those few could strengthen that presence by working together the way the men do instead of being catty, jealous, and petty. Females demonstrating unity within the hip-hop arena would show the world that as individual artists the ladies are just as committed to and serious about the business of music as well as women’s position in hip-hop being a permanent. So to all the ladies of hip-hop I leave this thought: if you can collaborate with the men on songs then why can you not with your fellow comrades who are fighting the same battles as you in this male dominated industry?