I’ve gotten a bunch of push back from folk who felt like I didn’t give Nicki Minaj a fair shake in my post yesterday.
Is Nicki Minaj the best female rapper of all time? Nah!
A few suggested that Nicki Minaj is the ‘best female entertainer’ in the game right now. Others claimed that she’s got exceptional lyrical abilities, unmatched by her peers. And at least one person opined that she’s the best female rapper of all times.
Not one to forego an objective and even analysis, let’s examine each of these claims in turn.
Claim No. 1: Nicki Minaj is the best female entertainer in the game right now.
Response: Bullocks! Sheer and utter bullocks.
Rationale: For anyone to make this claim, and believe it, they’d have to say that Nicki Minaj trumps the likes of serious entertainers like Beyonce, Shakira, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga, each of whom puts on a wicked live show.
If you focus solely on female rappers, then perhaps that claim has some validity. With Remy Ma doing a bid, Foxy Brown on permanent hiatus, Lil Kim struggling to make records, Lauryn Hill lost in la-la land, and Missy Elliott relaxing in her riches, there is an absolute void of female MCs. Moreover, artists like Trina, Da Brat, Rah Digga and Lil Mama, have ceased to be relevant, making this void even more pronounced.
Summary: Nicki Minaj is NOT the best entertainer in the game right now, but perhaps she is the most entertaining female rapper out today.
Claim No. 2: Nicki Minaj’s lyrical abilities are unmatched by her peers.
Response: Negatory. No. No. No. No. NO!
Rationale: Unmatched by her peers? It’s fair to say that Nicki Minaj is a rapper. That would place her in the same group as Biggie, Jay Z, Nas, Rakim, Grand Puba, Tupac, etc. But we’re not going to pretend that she can hold her own with any of these icons. If we focus only on female MCs, then she’s in the ranks of Lauryn Hill, Missy, MC Lyte, Rage, Queen Latifah, Eve and Remy Ma (to name but a few).
Even the most cursory examination of the lyrics of any of her songs, illustrates that Nicki possesses fundamental lyrical ability. But she’s got nothing to match the sheer wordplay of a Lauryn, the complexity of Missy or the intelligence of MC Lyte. Even if we focus only on her delivery (if you can get past that annoying voice), she pales in comparison to Remy or Eve, whose signature staccato delivery can’t be matched.
Summary: Compared to virtually any of these rappers, her stuff is marginal, at best.
Claim No. 3: Nicki Minaj is the best female rapper of all times.
Response. Pure unadulterated nonsense.
Rationale: Nicki Minaj has a total of ZERO records charted on Billboard. Outside of her ‘mixtapes’ she has released ZERO albums. She has no real spins to speak of in BDS or Mediabase. Grammies? Nada. With most of the female rappers named in this post each generating units moved in the MILLIONS, she’s got a loooonnnnngggggg way to go before she can even be mentioned in the same sentence.
Summary: Nicki Minja does not possess the track record to qualify for the ‘greatest female rapper of all times’ moniker.
Cats need to slow their rolls when it comes to Nicki Minaj. She’s got passable skills and a banging body, but passable skills and banging body do not a female rapper make. Let’s see if she’s got staying power, and can come with something more than pity-pat simple lyrics.
Stephen Chukumba 
TOTALLY AGRRE WITH LIMBA, if she good enough to be in YOUNG MONEY then she can rap and she can bring the heat, Yes she is VERY DIFFERENT in style, BUT that makes her UNIQUE and incomparable with other artists. I do also agree that she has a LONG WAY to go to walk on the same pedestal as Missy Eliot or Mary J Blidge, but to say the least she has a lot of talent and maybe the potential to Reach the level of THE GREATESTS !
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I’ve been forced to reckon with the fact that as a member of Young Money, she has a degree of credibility as a sellable commodity. Lyrical ability is also a subjective discussion, since Nicki Minaj may come across as having lyrical sophistication to many of different tastes. I’m not a fan, but she is doing it, and raising the bar for what female MC’s can do, whether or not you think her lyrics/skills/originally are lacking.
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lol
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It all comes down to option and a person taste in music. My option is that Nicki Minaj is a Lyrically Talented. Music is not what it use to be back in the 90’s. You can not expect music like Missy Elliot and Mary J Blidge to sell in this day and age. You have tomake music based on who will buy it and nominate it as best and as far as I am concerned in this day in age only teenagers and young adults are intested in BET and going in a store to buy a CD. Nicki Minaj works hard as any other female rapper in the industry and she does a great job. THERE IS NOT ANOTHER FEMALE RAPPER THAT CAN SPIT BETTER THEN HER IN THIS DAY AND AGE…. She Young Money….. IT GETS NO BETTER THEN YOUNG MONEY………. ALL OF THEM STANDING SHOULDER TO SHOULDER DONT NOBODY STAND A CHANCE AGAINST THEM. POINT BLANK PERIOD
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WTF? I am a Nicki Minaj fan, yet i can accept why people are criticizing and may have to warm up to her eh, unique, psycho, way of rapping and waaaay different, crazy style. But leave Beyonce out of this. why don’t you try to go on a stage and work the miracles that she does (singing brilliantly all the while dancing energetically simultneously) and receive the same posotive feedback that she does. Then, and only then, will you have somewhat of a right to leave a hating ass message saying that she has “Horrendous singing and strained dancing”. TUH!! I guess the blind and deaf have spoken.
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@Stellie, truth be told, Nicki’s not going anywhere, and over time, she may get off the ‘nonsense rap’ and really turn into a clever, substantive lyricist. But until that time, folks will have to deal with the fact that she’s on one of the most prolific rap labels out right now. With the whole Cash Money Young Money takeover of the airwaves, and with Nicki doing collaborations with virtually EVERYONE, it’s going to be hard to avoid her.
I just hope that she gets better, and we’ll actually pay attention to what she’s saying (as opposed to changing the station or just generally being annoyed by the basura raps she drops).
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As they say its a matter of opinion… I will beg to differ. Being critical is not being hateful, she’s a very good entertainer as I said. She is a huge commercial success. Much like Hammer was in his day. But a talented vocalist, one that can blow with the best of them? Really…
Would you put her in a ring with Ledisi, Fantasia, Leela James and Jill Scott (Just to name a few) who can sing circles around her on their worst day? Great entertainer, catchy tunes and hooks. Commerically very successful, but vocally she’s just strained.
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Thumbs Up…. Thats whats wrond with the world they want everything to remain the same they want the same old music and the same old boss chick style…. She New And Improved and I guaranteed she stay on top
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You stated the obvious (twice)… The fact of the matter is that Hip Hop is not what it used to be. This young lady is not talented lyrically. She tries to rock this female psuedo Busta Ryhmes style thats lacking to say the least. Whats sad is that she continues a long line of lackluster female (And Male) artists in Hip Hop & R&B…
Rihanna = Cant sing a lick, Beyonce = The MC Hammer of R&B( Yeah I said it), a good entertainer YES. But her singing is horrendous and her dancing is strained.
I would love to see the next MC Lyte or Rah Digga show up, hell give me a new Queen Latifah. Anything but this chick.
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4 all of u: if u think she is d best female rapper, U R F*CKIN CRAZY! im NOT saying she is trash BUT she is a grown ass woman tryna b “barbie” LETS B REAL. do u think dats really gonna last? HELL NO! its jus a GIMMICK to get fans. SHE NOT BEING REAL WITH HERSELF! she was NOT rhymin like dis b4. n a few years she is gonna fade. REAL TALK! she we not have longevity n hip hop!!!! NOT HATING….JUS BEING REAL
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The absurdity of this argument wasting your time articulating the obvious in 2 parts is insane.
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@Keith, it had to be done. But no worries, because I’m done (unless she releases a banging album at which point I’ll eat my words).
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