Throughout the history of rap music, there have been complicated and ongoing lyrical battles. Emcees are practically required to call each other out, in order to stay relevant and on top of the game. Eminem, Dr. Dre, and countless other artists have lyrically thrashed their competitors, creatively laying into them and asserting their superiority. New artists can make their mark by capitalizing on the faux pas of their predecessors. Those are the unspoken rules of the game, and how the top dogs play.
So on August 30th, when Nicki Minaj called out Miley Cyrus during her VMA acceptance speech she broke the rules. For those of you living under a rock, let’s get up to speed real quick. While accepting her award for Best Hip-Hop Video, Minaj took a break from thanking her contributors and fans to comment on “that Bitch” who had been talking about her in the media. The media Minaj was referring to was a NY Times piece, wherein Cyrus is quoted as saying “Nicki Minaj is not too kind. [Her manner] is not very polite”. Minaj responded to the criticism with her now-famous VMA comments, perpetuating the feud.
All other politics aside, Nicki’s comment broke the rules of the rap game. Though her actual words were fairly innocuous (“Miley, what’s good?”) she called Cyrus out directly and publicly. Almost instantly there was an outpouring of comments and articles from fans and supporters of both artists. Unfortunately for Cyrus, she is not a rapper. She doesn’t have the ability to step back “onto the playing field” with a lyrical attack on Minaj defending herself. Luckily, others are willing to enter the battlefield on her behalf!
This blog post explodes onto the scene, levelling the playing field with excerpts like:
Nicki fuck wit chicks your Own Age
Cyrus is a Renegade, get at cha' The Lady of Rage
Nicki Throwing shade, Miley spittn' blades
Just call me Wesley Snipes Blade, This Ain't No a game of Spades
Miley Cyrus Going Double Platinum that means "Back to Back"
Nicki Keep talkin' smack, get yo' ass clapped
Miley hasn’t responded to Minaj’s attack, but if she did it couldn’t hurt to take a few notes from this post to formulate her response. See the full lyrical assault at: http://mileywhatsgood.blogspot.com/
