Lil Mama had much to say following Nicki Minaj’s Best Female Hip-Hop artist win at the 2024 BET Awards on Sunday (June 30). The following day, the “Lip Gloss” rapper decided to ruffle The Barbz‘s feathers when she dubbed Minaj a “musical prostitute” that’s influenced by Lil Kim.
“[They] gave Nicki an award for leading this pack. Corporate “BARS” be going over our head. They laughing at us for sure!” she began her rant under a clip of Sexyy Red performing during culture’s biggest night. “These women are not influenced by Kim. Nicki is influenced by Kim. These women are 23.”
“What major musical prostitutes from the last do you remember from the last 15 years. Who do you think they watched corporate give a platform and flowers for sitting out. Be forreal. They are laughing at us, and the award was a ‘thanks to you, now we have 7, 8, 9 of ’em,’” she added referring to Minaj’s win for the night.
Following her sentiments she received mixed reactions, with some agreeing with her stance and others demanding that she put respect on Minaj’s name. Then, there were some who felt she was just “jealous” that she wasn’t on the BET stage that night.
“If you were invited to the BET Awards to perform you would have went,” one person responded, to which she replied, “Are you saying that I would have been performing be selling p**sy too or just performing?” When asked why she brought the music icon’s name up in the first place, Lil Mama responded, “because I can.”
As more drawback began pouring in, the 34-year-old actress and rapper reflected on the earlier days of women in Hip-Hop, and even shed some positivity on her remarks.
“There were definitely options in style and content. It’s all love, God is the greatest and these women are gonna wake up and realize that they are worth more than any price tag. Sometimes we can’t see ourselves. We are just living… so I can [understand] how this can happen and feel normal.”
Although Lil Mama may have used Minaj to prove her point this time, her remarks may have been rooted from her past disdain for the Queens impresario. At one point Lil Mama accused Minaj of copying her style.
“But my cut is blunt and futuristic and Nicki Minaj started wearing that bob on her head after she came to my show, so at the end of the day I know what I do and I know what I possess and I know who I am,” she told VIBE in 2011. “I’m a trendsetter. The biggest form of flattery is imitation so I’m flattered. I understand the universal law. I’m not confused, I don’t feel like a follower.”
She added, “I started so many things that new artists are doing now anyway –my style, the way I’m aggressive on a track, the way I come through, the way my beat bangs. There are so many things that were borrowed, that I influenced that’s happening in music right, so I’m far from discouraged.”
Take a look at Lil Mama’s comments on Nicki Minaj and the 2024 BET Awards above.