Bold title, I guess, but worth discussing. Is Nicki Minaj the best female rapper ever? A year ago, I woulda said hell no. She has an interesting style, but it sounded so forced and she wasn't getting the closing verse on any song.
However, the first time I started taking her seriously was on the Young Money album "We Are Young Money" where she featured on a number of songs. The collabo "Finale" featured all the big hitters, and I feel that she had one of the best verses on there, if not the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qojDyZEqnGI#t=2m30s
I'm partial to Wayne and Drake, so I think they cleaned up pretty nicely after her, and Lil Twist's verse was pretty cool. But has a lady ever hung with the boys like that before? I'm gonna list two other female rappers I respect the same (sorry, but Lauren Hill didn't do it long enough to make the list)
Lil Kim
MC Lyte
So, I haven't listened to Nicki's album yet, but I've heard all her singles so far. Fire. Massive Attack grew on me. Your Love is fire, with a great hook. Check It Out I didn't even know was her until late, but it made me nod my head. Right Thru Me is also a good song.
However, I don't think her singles represent her best work or show off her talents. I think her best work comes in collabos with men where she's basically force to step her game up.
Here she kills the Hello Good Morning Remix from Dirty Money:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OciO2MPnmzU#t=1m30s
She pretty much pulled an Em and Renegaded Ross, Ye and Jay on Kanye's Monster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ona42jz8w0k#t=3m36s
Here she makes Keyshia Cole's song I Ain't Thru something other than another KC sob story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCMJEw1qTMs#t=1m6s
She's the only reason to listen to Gyptian's Hold Yuh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz-u6I9bbSQ#t=0m27s
The girl can spit. I don't know if she writes her own shit, but if she does, then that's even more amazing. Her flow is versatile, and rarely boring. I don't like all her facial contortions as she's rapping, but that's my one negative. I've never seen a female rapper that's arguably as good as, or better, than the men.
In comparison, here's some classics from MC Lyte, who was the female boss in her day.
Ruff Neck was her appeal to the mainstream, and is probably her most-popular song. It's not her best, but I'll list it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygteZWP_tL0
Cha Cha Cha might be my favorite Lyte song. I'm a sucker for the beat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpSeJP2HfaY
Ride Wit Me got nominated for a Grammy. Not a bad track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcqIz9FFEQQ
She went off in Cold Rock The Party. I think Heather B might have been the first hard woman of hip-hop, but Lyte was the first with real talent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh5OGOunafs
She could be thoughtful like The Rap Game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p__vumAAD-Q
I remember this song from Rap City back in the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbud7ZEeAYQ
The other female I respect is Lil Kim. Made her name with Junior Mafia, and was actually the only redeemable member of that awful group of Biggie dickriders. Her career was a bit of all over the place IMO, because her production wasn't really that consistent. But it might just be my memory fucking with me.
Lighters Up is my favorite song of hers. Nice flow, great beat and when I was in NYC, it did hit home:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8l_0N8lLWY
I think her flow was probably tightest on Jump Off. I haven't heard any of her mixtapes, so this is the best I've heard from her:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HER1RxputAw
Crush On You is the first video I thought she looked good in. Probably the only one, actually. :lol Anyway, her verses were better than BIG's IMO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDoQ2wGT6-k#t=1m18s
Ladies Night was one of the best tracks for most of these ladies. I don't think Angie Martinez ever sounded that good. Left Eye stepped her shit up too. You'd expect the best female rapper ever to smoke this ensemble though. I might give the best verse to Left Eye. If she didn't die, I might have included her in the list, but her sample size is still too small:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoQwdzKm7hk#t=0m32s
The first time I heard her was on Junior MAFIA's Player's Anthem. Alright verse. She came off hard and nasty, which was new for the time. Since she was first to be successful with that angle, I guess she deserves credit for it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJW1h5U6SxM#t=2m59s
Finally, Quiet Storm is my favorite hook from her. It used to be my favorite verse of hers until Lighters Up. Mobb Deep should thank her for making this song relevant. She did Mobb like she regularly did Junior MAFIA. Just way out of these dudes' league. This wasn't Shook Ones Mobb...at least not on this track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d3TfbjJUEU#t=1m14s
So my opinion is that Nicki Minaj is far and away the best female rapper ever. The girl can spit, I assume she writes her own shit, and her flow is versatile. She also did a better job of cleaning herself up than Kim did. She must have had a better surgeon.
I'm not a fan of Nicki's attitude or personality. She strikes me as a bit fake, but I don't have to talk to her, I just listen to her music. Thoughts? Were there any other females I missed besides Lauren and Left Eye? PEACE.
However, the first time I started taking her seriously was on the Young Money album "We Are Young Money" where she featured on a number of songs. The collabo "Finale" featured all the big hitters, and I feel that she had one of the best verses on there, if not the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qojDyZEqnGI#t=2m30s
I'm partial to Wayne and Drake, so I think they cleaned up pretty nicely after her, and Lil Twist's verse was pretty cool. But has a lady ever hung with the boys like that before? I'm gonna list two other female rappers I respect the same (sorry, but Lauren Hill didn't do it long enough to make the list)
Lil Kim
MC Lyte
So, I haven't listened to Nicki's album yet, but I've heard all her singles so far. Fire. Massive Attack grew on me. Your Love is fire, with a great hook. Check It Out I didn't even know was her until late, but it made me nod my head. Right Thru Me is also a good song.
However, I don't think her singles represent her best work or show off her talents. I think her best work comes in collabos with men where she's basically force to step her game up.
Here she kills the Hello Good Morning Remix from Dirty Money:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OciO2MPnmzU#t=1m30s
She pretty much pulled an Em and Renegaded Ross, Ye and Jay on Kanye's Monster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ona42jz8w0k#t=3m36s
Here she makes Keyshia Cole's song I Ain't Thru something other than another KC sob story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCMJEw1qTMs#t=1m6s
She's the only reason to listen to Gyptian's Hold Yuh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz-u6I9bbSQ#t=0m27s
The girl can spit. I don't know if she writes her own shit, but if she does, then that's even more amazing. Her flow is versatile, and rarely boring. I don't like all her facial contortions as she's rapping, but that's my one negative. I've never seen a female rapper that's arguably as good as, or better, than the men.
In comparison, here's some classics from MC Lyte, who was the female boss in her day.
Ruff Neck was her appeal to the mainstream, and is probably her most-popular song. It's not her best, but I'll list it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygteZWP_tL0
Cha Cha Cha might be my favorite Lyte song. I'm a sucker for the beat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpSeJP2HfaY
Ride Wit Me got nominated for a Grammy. Not a bad track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcqIz9FFEQQ
She went off in Cold Rock The Party. I think Heather B might have been the first hard woman of hip-hop, but Lyte was the first with real talent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh5OGOunafs
She could be thoughtful like The Rap Game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p__vumAAD-Q
I remember this song from Rap City back in the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbud7ZEeAYQ
The other female I respect is Lil Kim. Made her name with Junior Mafia, and was actually the only redeemable member of that awful group of Biggie dickriders. Her career was a bit of all over the place IMO, because her production wasn't really that consistent. But it might just be my memory fucking with me.
Lighters Up is my favorite song of hers. Nice flow, great beat and when I was in NYC, it did hit home:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8l_0N8lLWY
I think her flow was probably tightest on Jump Off. I haven't heard any of her mixtapes, so this is the best I've heard from her:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HER1RxputAw
Crush On You is the first video I thought she looked good in. Probably the only one, actually. :lol Anyway, her verses were better than BIG's IMO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDoQ2wGT6-k#t=1m18s
Ladies Night was one of the best tracks for most of these ladies. I don't think Angie Martinez ever sounded that good. Left Eye stepped her shit up too. You'd expect the best female rapper ever to smoke this ensemble though. I might give the best verse to Left Eye. If she didn't die, I might have included her in the list, but her sample size is still too small:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoQwdzKm7hk#t=0m32s
The first time I heard her was on Junior MAFIA's Player's Anthem. Alright verse. She came off hard and nasty, which was new for the time. Since she was first to be successful with that angle, I guess she deserves credit for it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJW1h5U6SxM#t=2m59s
Finally, Quiet Storm is my favorite hook from her. It used to be my favorite verse of hers until Lighters Up. Mobb Deep should thank her for making this song relevant. She did Mobb like she regularly did Junior MAFIA. Just way out of these dudes' league. This wasn't Shook Ones Mobb...at least not on this track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d3TfbjJUEU#t=1m14s
So my opinion is that Nicki Minaj is far and away the best female rapper ever. The girl can spit, I assume she writes her own shit, and her flow is versatile. She also did a better job of cleaning herself up than Kim did. She must have had a better surgeon.
I'm not a fan of Nicki's attitude or personality. She strikes me as a bit fake, but I don't have to talk to her, I just listen to her music. Thoughts? Were there any other females I missed besides Lauren and Left Eye? PEACE.