Usher upset some Barbz this week with his take on Nicki Minaj.
On Saturday (May 16), the veteran R&B singer hopped on Instagram Live with Swizz Beatz to chat after he and Chris Brown were named as the next potential Verzuz contenders. While discussing other battles being kicked around, Swizz tossed out the idea of Nicki Minaj versus Lil Kim, but Usher wasn’t really convinced.
“Yeah but you know, that’s… nah,” he said. “Nicki is a product of Kim.”
They mad at Usher for saying NM is a product of Lil Kim. Lil Kim's influence can be found all over female rap. KIM took heat for sexually explicit lyrics, music videos & all just so yall favs could be comfortable doing it YEARS LATER. Denying it on Stan Twitter wont change that. pic.twitter.com/q45199yKsd
— ?✳???????'? ???? ?✳? (@pettypremy) May 17, 2020
The conversation turned afterward, so Usher wasn’t able to elaborate on his “Little Freak” collaborator.
Nicki and Kim have a storied history, but things weren’t always all bad. In fact, Nicki would often reference Kim as an influence early in her career, so Usher’s statement isn’t exactly far off.
“Kim is the pioneer for my generation,” Nicki said in a 2009 interview where she named Kim as one of her top five rappers. “She’s the trend setter. She’s the Queen Bee.”
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On her 2008 mixtape Sucka Free, Nicki also paid homage to Kim by recreating the Queen Bee’s infamous squat from her Hard Core album. However, any love was lost once Nicki released her debut album Pink Friday in 2010, when the Eminem-assisted album cut “Roman’s Revenge” came riddled with thinly-veiled shots thrown in Kim’s way.
Over a decade later, they have yet to patch things up, so the likelihood of a battle is quite low – regardless of Usher’s opinion on the matter.