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Lil Kim and Nicki Minaj may have not resolved their many issues. But apparently, that hasn’t prevented Lil Kim from wanting to stand in a room with her rapper rival for hours on end during a Verzuz battle.
Kim was present at the BET Awards this past weekend to honor Queen Latifah with a performance for her Lifetime Achievement Award. Before she hit the stage, she conducted an interview with DJ Envy and shared some interesting news.
Broaching what he felt might be a sensitive question, Envy asked Kim, “Not going to say who against, but would you do a Verzuz?”
Lil Kim said yes and when DJ Envy asked is there anybody that you’d do it against, Lil Kim said, “Nicki.”
The back and forth between these two MCs has gone on for years, over a decade at this point.
It began with a photo shoot for Nicki Minaj’s 2007 mixtape Playtime is Over, in which several people noted the similarities in Nicki’s pose on the cover to Kim’s iconic pose for her Hardcore album.
Nicki claimed that when the two met backstage at a Lil Wayne concert, she asked Kim if they were good. Apparently, that was enough for Lil Kim to take offense. According to BET, she later recounted the incident saying, “Picture somebody saying to me, ‘We good?’ I’ll ring her throat, snatch her larynx out.”
While Nicki came into the industry acknowledging the fact that Lil Kim served as an inspiration for her, Lil Kim never felt it was enough and constantly accused Nicki of being her clone without paying homage.
Nicki Minaj has responded to Lil Kim’s criticism in interviews, asking that she release music instead of diss her. She’s even addressed Kim on several songs of her own including “Stupid H*e” and “Tragedy.” In the latter song she rapped:
“It must hurt to sell your album off PayPal/Especially when you in the game 15 to 20/ You was hot when Shaq teamed up with Penny/ Man, you was Magic/I mean, look at ya now ho, you just tragic/You a tragedy, you a parody/ Last name Ann, first name Raggedy.”
In 2010, Lil Kim said the two would never make amends, which means this battle would be a tense one should Nicki ever agree to it.
Rap Beef aside, and in the spirit of competition and Black Music Month, here are some women we’d like to see go up against one another in a Verzuz sound off.
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Salt-N-Pepa vs. City Girls
Since Lil Kim, a rap legend, would like to go up against, Nicki Minaj, it only makes sense that there should be some other old school vs. new school battles. Salt-N-Pepa has more hits than the City Girls do at this point in their career. However, it’s clear that Salt-N-Pepa’s willingness to talk about sex, approaching men with boldness and female empowerment, certainly paved the way for the City Girls to do what they do today.
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Megan vs. Saweetie
Megan and Saweetie each have their own distinctive lanes. Still, each one of them rap about being their own women, not necessarily depending on a man for anything but sex. Plus, both Megan and Saweetie seem to have good energy. They operate as if there’s room for them and other female rappers.
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Flo Milli vs. Latto
We’d love to see these newbies showcase their skills in a battle against one another. Both Flo Milli are new artists, but they each have a playful aesthetic and are pretty girls who have a bit of a hood edge to their lyrics.
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Foxy Brown vs. Remy Ma
These two hip hop veterans aren’t shy when it comes to bringing that smoke. Foxy Brown and Remy Ma could easily go toe to toe and hit for hit with one another. They each have some features they could pull out of their sleeves as well. Being that Remy and Foxy have both faced adversity and had to fight their way back from personally and professionally, it would be good to see them on stage together.
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Missy
Timbaland has said before that no one should go up against Missy. Instead, he claimed that he and Swizz Beatz were planning something to honor her, perhaps a Verzuz segment of her own. Honestly, after watching D’Angelo perform with special guests, this seems to make the most sense. With her catalog as a producer, songwriter and rapper, Missy really is in a class of her own.
