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50 cent loves to see some heated competition in today’s hip-hop landscape, especially among women. During a candid sit-down with Billboard this week, the “Hate It Or Love It” rapper shared his thoughts about the steamy beef that popped off between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B in 2018.
After more than a year of sneak disses, shady freestyles and a few petty subs on social media, the two celebs got into a physical altercation after they attended the Harper’s Bazaar Icon Party during New York Fashion Week.
“The way I had competitive energy: Hip-hop culture makes you battle. I love Nicki Minaj, but the funny sh-t is, I like watching her when she’s upset. I like that because she has something that comes from the experience of living in South Jamaica,” 50 told the outlet. “I’m looking at it like, ‘Yo, I know they think she’s nuts, but they only think that because they don’t understand.’ I get it. She thinks you’re trying to play her.”
When Cardi B burst onto the music scene with her hit single “Bodak Yellow” in 2017, 50 said he knew stardom would follow for the Bronx-bred femcee.
“When Cardi B came, I thought she was dope,” the Branson Cognac CEO continued. “She’s from the bottom. She was in Club Lust in Brooklyn. [Going] from that and actually making a hit record and turning into who she did. I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t like to see that. It felt like she got everything — married, the baby — it came really fast. That’s the American dream right there.”
It’s unclear how Cardi and Nicki’s beef emerged, but some have speculated that the feud may have stemmed from a perceived competition for dominance in the female rap game. During the time of their scuffle, both hip-hop stars were rising to prominence in the music industry. Some believe personal issues may have caused their heated rivalry.
In 2018, Cardi hinted that she had enough of Nicki’s petty “sneak disses” and negative comments about her daughter, Kulture, although she never mentioned the Queen rapper’s name outright.
50 Cent said he loved seeing the two femcees go head to head
During the interview, 50 said it was “interesting to watch” Nicki and Cardi go toe to toe during Fashion Week.
“Lyrically, I won’t say anything competitively about the two of them, but I love Nicki. I don’t have anything against Cardi,” he added. “I think anyone who comes now, she is going to check their temperature. Nicki is going to check if this b—h is friendly or looking to take over the sh-t.”
Thankfully, Cardi and Nicki were able to hash out their differences. During a chance encounter at the Met Gala in 2018, the two rappers had a lengthy heart to heart about their little “misunderstanding,” according to Cardi B.
“I never was feuding with anybody,” the “Up” rapper told Howard Stern during an interview that year. “I think she felt a certain type of way about something. I definitely felt a certain type of way about something. Didn’t want to ever talk about it in public because I felt like we are going to see each other again, and we will talk about it.”
She added:
“It’s always like little issues. But the thing is, it’s always little issues but fans are always going to make it into a big thing. I spoke to her in the Met Gala about it. And it’s just like, ‘See, it’s just something that needed to be talked about.’”
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