Nicki Minaj released two new songs today — on the heels of Cardi B's album Invasion of Privacy — but neither one of them addresses her history with Cardi B, something fans (and gossip-mongerers) might have expected. Speaking to Beats 1 in a live interview this morning, as per Pitchfork, Minaj addressed her fraught history with Cardi, which she said began when Cardi seemingly criticised her verse on the song "Motorsport" in an interview last November.
"I remember when I first came in the game... I would only be singing [other rappers'] praises and saying thank you," she explained. Cardi insinuated in the interview that the verse Minaj raps on "Motorsport" was different from the original one she heard. The implication was that, while Minaj got the chance to hear Cardi's full verse before the song dropped, Cardi wasn't afforded the same luxury. Minaj continued, "The first interview she did, it just hurt me because she looked so aggravated and angry. She just kept saying she didn’t hear it...I was like, What?"
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Late last week, Cardi gave an interview with Beats 1 where she put the rumours to rest.
"I just feel like it’s really internet made-up. I really feel like fans, fans, and people they really want to see that happen because it’s really entertaining,” she told interviewer Ebro Darden. “To see people beefing is really entertaining."
Speaking to Beats 1 today, Minaj said that, before Cardi's interview with Darden, she'd never heard her say nice things about Minaj in the press. "Up until this recent interview she did, I had never seen her show me genuine love in an interview," she explained. "I can only imagine how many girls wished they could’ve been on a song with Nicki Minaj."
Minaj's two new songs are "Chun Li," an extended metaphor comparing Minaj to the Street Fighter character Chun Li, and "Barbie Tingz," a tongue-in-cheek declaration of industry dominance. "Barbie Tingz" in particular addresses the public's nasty habit of speculating about "feuds."
"All tea, all shade, bitch, all offence," she says, referring to the titular 'Barbie Tingz.' Later, she chides, "'Cause you hoes too old to be gossipin' / I'm just tryna find out when the new Porsche come in."