Nicki Minaj Makes Comments About Female Rappers and the Internet Is Not Having It

Nicki Minaj credits herself as being the one responsible for reinvigorating the image of the female rapper in mainstream hip-hop and her fans are willing to get into a heated debate to defend her claim.

The “Anaconda” artist made the comments during an interview with XXL when she was speaking about how she has managed to become such a popular figure in both music and fashion.

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“There wasn’t a big female rap presence right before I got in,” she said. “So, my role was really reintroducing the female rapper to pop culture.”

Not long after Minaj made the claims, rap legend Missy Elliott took to Twitter on Wednesday to praise one of her friends and collaborators, Lil Kim. The tweet wasn’t necessarily a shot at Minaj, but it just so happened to set the stage for a debate between each female rap artist’s fans.

“There’s no denying that @LilKim has been a risk taker not just in music but in fashion she wasn’t afraid. She meshed high fashion & hiphop,” Elliott tweeted.

Elliott tweeted a photo of Lil Kim from a 1999 photo shoot with photographer David LaChappelle in which her skin is covered in Louis Vuitton patterning.

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Hundreds of fans responded to Miss Elliott believing that she was throwing shade at Minaj. Judging from the replies to Elliott’s tweet, Minaj’s fans thought that she was slamming her. They proceeded to hurl insults at both Elliott and Lil’ Kim.