Move over Remy Ma or even Cardi B - there's only one woman that Nicki Minaj says that she competes with.
Minaj has been compared to many female emcees throughout what has become an illustrious rap career for her, but none of those direct comparisons might be more apt than the woman who remains her hip-hop spirit animal: Foxy Brown. The legendary New York emcee is one of the strongest rappers, male or female, to come out of the 1990's, with a flow and style that blazed a trail for many aspiring rappers that have taken their turn in the spotlight since then. To mark the occasion of Brown's 39th birthday, which went down yesterday, Nicki took to Instagram to show her some love.
“I may have never even started rapping if it wasn’t for her,” Nicki said in the caption to an image of Foxy that she shared. “KING FOX. Her flow & delivery is still unmatched. You can’t listen to me w/o hearing her influence. She’s still the only thing I compete w/when it comes to precision of flow, delivery & execution. Trini QUEEN 🇹🇹 Happy Birthday my love @foxybrown.”
The two women have a history of mutual admiration between them. Nicki has previously called Foxy the "most influential" female emcee of all time, while the old-school icon gave Minaj props when she literally knelt down before another hip-hop queen, Lauryn Hill. "I Laugh When They Say She Never Gives It Up To The 'GREATS' Cuz She’s Humbly Bowed To Both #LBOOGIE (My Fav) & #FOXBOOGIE Publicly!" Foxy wrote in her repost of the viral video. "Maybe Y’all Mad Bitches Just Aren’t Who She Considers 'The Bar' (FB Lingo lol)."
The more that time continues to march on in Nicki Minaj's career, it's more likely that her "competitors" will become allies eventually. She is rumored to be making new music with frenemy extraordinaire Remy Ma and other pockets of social media users have also linked her to Cardi B for an upcoming collaboration. How many of those supposed projects see the light of day is hard to say at this point in time.