The Queen of PayPal has yet to ship her anti-Nicki Minaj mixtape Black Friday, but she's still on her press tour promoting the project and ranting to anyone who'll listen about how Nicki Minaj, Baby and Cash Money did her dirty. Oh, and screw Puffy too.
In perhaps her most high profile appearance (Well, sorta. It was MTV but only a livestream on MTV.com), Lil' Kim sat down with Sway to discuss the situation. At times, Sway's opinion of the beef was made clear in his line of questioning. He tried his best to remain objective, but even he couldn't contain himself at some of the more incredulous claims Kim was making, like when she called herself Rocky. "It's funny, your analogies. You're the underdog?," Sway asked.
1. Sway kept gassing Kim's head up
Lil' Kim has a storied legacy. She paved the way, broke barriers and set trends as the Queen Bee of hip hop. Her legacy and discography are to be respected. But that was years ago. And Kim's last album, The Naked Truth, didn't impress many people on the charts as it flopped spectacularly.
That Sway wanted to butter up his interview subject to put her at ease is understandable, but he was taking his compliments way too far, using terms like "A-List" and "relevant" to describe Kim. Yes, she's being talked about a lot these days, but that's only in the context of Nicki Minaj.
Lil' Kim would not be getting one iota of the press she's receiving if it weren't for her beef with Nicki. Nicki Minaj is about to go on an arena tour with Lil' Wayne and she made appearances at the Grammys, VMAs and AMAs. That's A-list. Lil' Kim is going on club tours and watching award shows from her sofa like the rest of us. That's D-list, at best.
2. Fendi and his pimp relationship with Kim
Quick recap for those not up on their Nicki Minaj history. Fendi is one of the people responsible for putting Nicki on as a rapper. He was her manager and he's the one that got her on The Come Up DVD that Wayne saw that eventually got her signed to Young Money. He's also really, really bitter about Nicki leaving him behind. He complains about Nicki being disloyal and mentions that he had papers backing up their business agreement, which didn't prevent her from leaving his camp. So now he's decided to pitch his tent with Lil' Kim.
Fendi claims that he's always respected Kim, but their relationship seems rather...affectionate. Toward the end of Kim's interview, Fendi came out to sit on the couch and answer some business questions about the mixtape, like when is it actually shipping. Kim began snuggling next to him and giggling like a school girl instantly.
Then when Sway asked for a live verse, as is tradition on the show, Kim said she needed to be paid before she spit anything. Fendi then dug into his pockets and offered Sway the wad of cash. Sway scoffed and refused the money, so then Fendi turned to Kim and said, "Here's $20,000. You can do what you want with it." Kim cooed and purred, "Thank you. I love you," as Fendi hugged and planted a big ol' kiss on her cheek.
Look, Kim has a track record of sleeping with the boss. She did it with Biggie, and there were whispers about her doing the same with her former co-manager D-Roc. Not to mention she crossed the professional line with producer Scott Storch. Kim uses her feminine wiles to get what she wants out of men. And Fendi seems to be using Kim like an ex-boyfriend would to get his ex-girlfriend jealous by hooking up with her arch nemesis. This is sick.
3. Kim is convinced being an independent artist is winning
Lil' Kim used to be signed to a major record label, Atlantic Records. But when she came out of prison, she felt like her label didn't "get her" and felt they did a poor job in promoting her last album, The Naked Truth. So she protested and boycotted the recording studio. She eventually got what she wanted and was released, but she leapt from the frying pan into the fire because she got caught up in legal mess with her next deal with the Trackmasters. So now, like Jason DeRulo, Kim is flying solo. And if she has her way, she wants us to believe that's a great thing. But it's not.
Here's the thing: The music industry is in a dire state. People aren't buying albums as much and new business models are still in infancy. But make no mistake, most independent artists would love to be signed to a major record label. Why? Because of the money available for promotions and marketing. Kim admits this when she says that Nicki has a "building" behind her, citing how flush with cash Nicki's record label is, casting Nicki as Goliath and Kim as poor, puny David.
But simultaneously, Kim wants us to believe that her being independent is better than being signed to a label. Kim says she's a "boss" who's moved on to the "next level." What? If hawking a mail-order mixtape for fund raising is the next level, then let's hope Nicki stays downgraded for life cause that's a hideous struggle.
4. Kim is still mad about Notorious and disrespecting Biggie's mom
Lil' Kim made it clear that she didn't like a lot of things about Notorious. First, she hated the fact that Naturi Naughton was playing her. Kim thought someone lighter, like Christina Milian, should've played her. Right. And Halle Berry really would make a convincing Aretha Franklin.
Secondly, Kim claims that the portrayal of her character in the movie was not reflective of reality. And she doesn't care what anyone else says, including Biggie's mother, Mrs. Wallace, who Kim repeatedly mocks with obnoxious imitations.
It's clear that Mrs. Wallace has never been a big fan of Kim's from jump street. And if the love of your life's mother doesn't like you, you know there's something foul afoot. Mama knows best.
5. Kim keeps claiming Nicki hates other female rappers
The hypocrisy of this claim is astounding. Lil' Kim has had beef with the following female rappers: Eve, Trina, Foxy Brown and Remy Ma. And let's not forget her beef with Biggie's widow Faith Evans. Lil' Kim is known for beefing with anyone she views as competition, her collaboration with Da Brat and Missy on "Not Tonight (Remix)" not withstanding.
So Kim keeps saying that Nicki shut down their collaboration on Baby's song because she wanted to be the only female rapper on the scene and Kim points to the fact that Nicki hasn't collaborated with other female rappers as evidence of this. Except that's not true.
Nicki has been chummy with Trina for quite some time and the two appeared on the remix to Yo Gotti's "5 Star Chick" remix. And then Nicki also stood alongside Ludacris, Trina, Diamond and Eve for the "My Chick Bad" remix too. Oh, and she also jumped on a remix with M.I.A. for her song "Teqkilla." Kim, you ain't gots to lie.
