Two queens, one industry to rule, and zero rap song to conclude who's the baddest of them all. Nicki Minaj and Cardi B's feud has been stuck on that score for a while now. But fans think that's about to change after Cardi B recently tweeted, "Since ya mad ..imma give ya something mad to be about …..This next single and coll- ….Gonna have ya sick ….since ya here."
The WAP singer didn't give any more hint. Well, she didn't even write collab in full. But fans have strong reasons to believe that the rapper is making music with her nemesis Nicki Minaj. Let's round up the signs that point to that dream reconciliation hit.
There's A Leak Of The Collab On Twitter
The Barbz and the Bardigang went wild after Cardi's tweet. Even more when an 8-second snippet of the rumored collab called Lavish featuring Mike WiLL Made-It surfaced on Twitter. It's only the rappers' signature grunts and noises together, but it was enough to convince the fans that Nicki Minaj and Cardi B's long-running beef might be coming to an end.
Fans didn't bother to check the authenticity of the snippet. Eventually, they found out that the leak was a fan edit. You'd think the speculations would have stopped then, but the fandoms remain excited and optimistic. If anything, it seems like the fake snippet gave them more hope.
It'd Be The Best Collab To Follow Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's WAP
Seriously, how else do you top that iconic collab? Cardi and Megan's collab shook the world, not just with the explicit content of their song, but by the fact that they did it together. Cardi and Megan have been pitted against each other many times before. And they squashed the notion that all female rappers must have beef with WAP, along with the other female artists featured in the music video.
When Cardi was asked by Apple Music about that choice, she said, "Every single time I feel like there's a female artist that's coming up, coming up, coming up and it's getting they mainstream moment, I always see like little slick comments like, 'Oh, they taking over your spot. They taking over this. They taking over that.' And it just makes me feel like, damn, why it had to be like that?"
Nicki and Cardi are both victims of male domination in rap. The industry is still set in its patriarchal ways wherein there's only one room for a powerful female rapper. Women are constantly threatened with being replaced. It's no wonder Nicki and Cardi have to be aggressive in protecting their positions.
The Queens Are Probably Tired Of Being Pitted Against Each Other
Who isn't tired of female celebrity feuds anyway? Sure, it's entertaining to watch and we all live for tea spills. But it's time we spare our talented rappers the drama. Women in the music industry have been facing this for a while now. Like Megan Thee Stallion told The New York Times, "Countless times, people have tried to pit me against Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, two incredible entertainers and strong women. I’m not 'the new' anyone; we are all unique in our own ways."
It's like that Monica and Brandy feud in the 90s. They were teenagers when the industry started to turn them against each other. Brandy wanted to show everyone that she was on good terms with Monica, so they did The Boy Is Mine together. But unlike WAP's effect, the industry only used the feuding narrative of the song to spread more rumors of an actual feud. Monica later said that it was the reason she never got to develop her friendship with Brandy.
It's the same case for Nicki Minaj and Cardi B. Remember that time when the two were seen bonding at the 2018 Met Gala? Cardi said that during the event, she had a conversation with Nicki about the feuding rumors thrown at them. She clarified to Nicki that it was only the media that wanted them to hate each other.
They hugged it out. They ironed out the situation and came to an understanding that it was all industry's game. But the truce didn't last. Like Cardi B also said, the fans are always making a big deal out of everything that the little issues become their reality. Now that the fans are pushing for a collab, we don't see why Nicki and Cardi wouldn't make that come to life, too.