Key Takeaways
- Cardi B said Nicki Minaj did not shape her musical identity because she grew up watching and listening to Madonna, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, and Trina.
- She acknowledged listening to Nicki after the rapper emerged when Cardi was 17, but distinguished that from the artists who influenced her earlier years.
- Cardi praised Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla, and City Girls for having distinct styles, arguing that female rappers only last by bringing their own identity.
Cardi B appeared to address why Nicki Minaj was not included on her list of artistic predecessors in a recent profile.
While on X Spaces on Wednesday (Oct. 21), Cardi seemed upset that observers were criticizing a recent list of influences she dropped to the New York Times — a list that at least some fans noticed did not include Minaj.
Cardi seemed to respond to that specific criticism, saying that while she was aware of “somebody else” who “came on the fucking scene” when Cardi was 17 years old (the age she was when Nicki dropped Beam Me Up Scotty), that unnamed older artist was not a major influence on the level of the artists she named.
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“Yes of course, I was listening to them and everything, but it’s like, no,” Cardi said. “When I was growing up, these [artists I already mentioned] are the women I was listening to and seeing on television.”
In her profile for The New York Times Style Magazine, Cardi is said to have formed her aesthetic and attitude by watching her mother’s Madonna DVDs, and observing the work of Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, and Trina.
On X Spaces, Cardi admitted she does not like mentioning Foxy in interviews because she “never fucking liked me.”
“I don’t give a fuck if she don’t like me or not, one thing I’m not ever gonna lie is that I used to listen to her music when I was younger,” she said.
Cardi said she has credited these same artists with shaping her sound in a number of interviews before asking, “Why y’all be getting so fucking triggered?”
Cardi and Nicki of course have had a tense relationship for almost a decade. You can check out the entire timeline from 2017 onward here.
In her X Spaces, Am I the Drama? rapper went on to argue that longevity in the industry as a female rapper comes from individuality, praising the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla and the City Girls.
“When it comes to being a female rapper, the only way to make it is bringing your own swag,” she said. “All these female rappers that are mainstream, each and every one of us are a little different than each other.”
“I am a New York hood bitch,” Cardi continued. “Then you got somebody like Megan, she gives more sexy, college, fun, bestie girl. Then there’s somebody like GloRilla, she gives hood, down South rawness. You got, like, the City Girls. They give banjee, Miami, new age Trina.”
“If you’re imitating other bitches, you’re not gonna make it,” Cardi added. “If you imitate other bitches’ mannerisms, you’re not gonna make it because you’re not being yourself. So me making it, it was because I’m being myself. There’s nobody I ever wanna be. I became famous being Cardi B.”
