I wonder about some of you guys out there.
This one is for Nicki.
I have been bubbling over with several emotions such as disappointment, anger, confusion and dismay over these fans.
All of this centered on the recent “Cipher” that was sprinkled between the thing called the BET Hip-Hop Awards. Truth is, the ciphers, which included KRS-One, Joe Budden, Eminem, Buckshot, Black Thought of The Roots and others. The entire “cipher” series this year was kicked off my one Nicki Minaj, the lone female to represent.
She killed it.
So, the last few weeks I’ve been stewing…quietly steaming. Mad. I was looking at the comments and the polling on the AllHipHop recap of all of the rappers in the cipher. When it was all said and done, Eminem captured about 50% of voting fans that thought the Detroit emcee spit the best rap. After Em, came Joe Budden with close to 30% of the votes. (Click here to see the clips and to see the poll.)
Then way down the line with 6% of the vote was Nicki Minaj.
In my opinion, Nicki killed every other rapper in the cipher, with Eminem, Black Thought and Joe Budden as survivors. Poor Buckshot. The legendary Duck Down rapper was the unfortunate chap to have to spit after Nicki.
Peep it again:
Now, I saw a wide range of comments to Nicki’s presumed “cartoonish” delivery to outright hate. I hate the fact that these so-called Hip-Hop fans aren’t giving it up to Nicki after spitting that epic verse. Now, I could have replaced Black Thought for Nicki too, but Nicki is bringing something different to the game.
I appreciate that she spit her rap in an animated way. It makes me want to see/hear more of her. Also, her performance dismissed the idea that she is just a big butt and a Colgate smile. Lastly, it solidified that Nicki could be the biggest female in Hip-Hop since the 90’s era with Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown and others. She has an appeal that says 1) I’m going to win you over eventually, 2) I’m going to be loved by many walks of life and 3) both men and women shall appreciate me equally.
I repeat, it made me want to see her more. See, I wasn’t a fan of Nicki Minaj until that rap. I had followed her, but had not be really interested in her as an artist. So, I’m downloading a lot and catching up. At this point, I may be late to the party, but I’m also right on time. Her star is rising and she is about the only viable female prospect for super stardom in Hip-Hop right now.
So, I really need some of you to ease up off the raw crack. Eminem’s verse was nice, but he sounded like he was on autopilot to me. Joe Budden’s was ill, but he didn’t have enough energy for me, but I’m sure he wanted Meth to hear him clearly. Black Thought was Black Thought and we’ve seen this for quite a minute now. (For some perspective, rappers like Wale, Buckshot and others got no votes at all of the 10,000-plus people that voted. So, maybe Nicki is doing fine.)
Nicki brought her live show, her fashion, her looks, her energy and, lastly, her ill rhymes to the battle. In my view she won that one, but I just hope her skill as a rapper can shepherd the sheep in the Hip-Hop community.
The results:
Good Guy aka EveryMan is a columnist on AllHipHop.com and his columns appear every Thursday or when he sends them over. He’s been slacking.