One of my favorite things about Hip Hop is the history behind it. Learning the stories behind the music, the beats, the clothes and of course the beefs.
If you're not already aware, The Roxanne Wars back in 84' was a popular beef that put female rapper's in the spotlight. After the buzz of Roxanne Roxanne, Roxanne's Revenge dropped and that prompted the response The Real Roxanne.
Now 20+ years later, we got Remy Ma vs. Nicki Minaj or what I like to call the 'Roxanne Wars 2017'.
Last week I started to draft a short write up focusing on the double standards surrounding the Nicki/Remy beef, but then real life happened and I never finished.
After being slightly disappointed in my ability to make time for my employer, but not something I that I enjoy... Another One dropped.
I was glad I held off...
My focus immediately changed. Sure the entire 'beef' is riddled double standards, that's obvious. One thing I didn't care to explore, however, was the obvious.
When I first heard Another One I wasn't too impressed my first listen, but I played it again...listened a little harder and made sure that I caught every line.
Lyrically, I think Another One was nice. It just wasn't as surprising as shETHER was. The hook was catchy, Remy's flow was slicker than usual, and I could really see it being played over the summer.
At this point I'm thinking, what round is this? I mean Nicki still hadn't responded at the time, so it wasn't a round two.
Round 1A....Remy Ma's still in the lead.
Fast forward past all the Twitter BS and on to No Frauds dropping.
I listened to No Frauds several times before I decided that gaining clarification wasn't worth me giving it any additional streams. Prior to Remy's incarceration I wasn't a fan of her music. I was team Shawnna all the way.
I felt that Shawnna should've been getting the attention Remy was, so I never listened to Remy's music as a result.
Nicki Minaj on the other hand, I loved from the moment I saw her on The Come Up dvd. Seeing her Warning video legit changed my perspective on female rappers. She was the first one whose grind/growth I got to see from the early days to now.
I remember listening to Beam Me Up Scotty back to back, hell I'm almost certain I'll be rapping Slumber Party when I'm in a nursing home, and I damn sure remember the Barbie wave.
But none of that negates the fact that No Frauds was a disappointment.
I simply wasn't impressed, in fact I was genuinely disappointed.
I'd like to keep my criticism of this situation restricted to the music, specifically the bars.
Since No Frauds was a collaborative effort and deemed a non diss record by Nicki herself (Young Money don't do diss records), I don't have much to work with it, breakdown, or criticize that would support No Frauds as being anything besides a disappointment.
End round 1. Remy Ma with the win.
Whose the Queen of rap?
TBD...
That's just my opinion tho.