CARDI-NICKI FIGHT: THE LOW DOWN
A timeline of the bitter battle that led up to the showdown between the two rappers at New York Fashion Week
Days after that volcanic showdown between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B at New York Fashion Week, celeb friends of the two rappers have been swept up in the aftermath, forging alliances and drawing battle lines in this war.
The likes of supermodel Adriana Lima and Hailey Baldwin have already jumped aboard the Team Cardi B (or Bardie) train, while Team Minaj has found a sympathetic ear with 50 Cent, Vanessa Hudgens and Azealia Banks; although, we’re still on the fence whether Banks supports Minaj or just hates Cardi B.
In a video that dropped after the brawl at the
Harper’s Bazaar Icons party that saw Minaj facing the end of Cardi B’s flying stiletto and the Bodak
Yellow rapper leaving the event with a bump on her head, Banks made her stance clear.
“She doesn’t understand the rules of black female etiquette. She doesn’t understand that black women in 2018, we fight with our words and not with our hands,” the musician said, speaking about Cardi B.
Team Bardie also took a hit when Minaj also broke her silence on the Apple Music radio show,
Queen, calling the whole incident “mortifying.” “The other night I was part of something so mortifying and so humiliating to go through in front of a bunch upper echelon,” Minaj said. “I could not believe how humiliated it all felt.”
She also refuted the accusation that she spoke ill of Cardi B’s daughter Kulture (with Migos’ Offset), which reportedly was the root cause of the altercation. “I just want people to know that Onika Tanya Maraj has never, will never… speak ill on anyone’s child,” Minaj said, referring to her real name.
Earlier, Cardi B had presented her side of the story, writing a lengthy tale of turmoil in an Instagram post, without naming Minaj, but leaving little room for doubt.
“You’ve threatened artists in the industry, told them if they work with me you’ll stop [expletive] with them!” she wrote. “But when you mention my child, you choose to like comments about me as a mother, make comments about my abilities to take care of my daughter is when all bets are off!”
The note also addressed the feud between two stars, with Cardi B’s irritation not an isolated incident. Stories of sharpened digs between the duo have long been grabbing headlines.
READY FOR WAR
The first signs of tension were spotted back in March last year, when Minaj appeared to like someone’s comment dissing Cardi B’s rap verses as ‘Dumb [expletive] bars’. Whether this was truly a Minaj declaration of war or a case of fake news is anybody’s guess.
Things came to a head in May last year when Katy Perry released her collaborative track Swish
Swish with Minaj. The 35-year-old rapper waged war against Cardi B with a dig at Offset in specific lyric saying: “Silly rap beefs just get me more checks... Me and my amigos (no, not Offset).”
The jab didn’t sit well with Cardi B who lashed out on Instagram Live at the time to dish on “fake” people in the industry.
The claws would come out again after the release of Migos’ Motorsport, featuring both Minaj and Cardi B.
Minaj complained she didn’t earn the respect she deserved. In an interview with Zane Lowe from Beats 1, she addressed the matter, stating: “The only thing with Cardi that really hurt my feelings was the first interview she did after Motorsport came out. If a female of that stature had done a feature with me on it, I would only be singing their praises and saying thank you. The first interview she did after
Motorsport came out, it just really hurt me.”
After that outburst, things appeared to calm down, with the duo sharing some cordial moments at the Met Gala in May. Bardie later addressed the feud with talk show host Howard Stern calling it a “misunderstanding.”
All appeared quiet until that fateful event at New York Fashion Week until the I Like It singer took it upon herself to question Minaj over comments she reportedly made, casting doubt on her abilities as a mother. What transpired next was for the world to see. We reckon this drama is only the beginning.