Reminder: Some Musicians Are Delightfully Nice and Others Are Bullies, Just Like Everyone Else

I like reading about people being nice whether they are famous or just a, "Regular person." Sometimes fame and wealth seem to be a corrupting influence that amplifies a person's worth personality features, and other times it doesn't impact their being pleasant one bit. More and more stories have emerged lately of Post Malone being just a really nice dude, and that's good to hear. Post Malone has some songs I enjoy and others I hate, but overall his stuff is at least listenable. Plus, any news story I read about him discusses how he's really friendly and fun. One recent story is about him chatting with a fan who was celebrating their 21st birthday and who happened to have autism. Malone seems to always come across as delightful and humble.

Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj is picking fights with plenty of other rappers and proving herself to be a bully. I have written here before about how I've never been a fan of Minaj and if I had the option of listening to her music or Cardi B, Doja Cat, Latto, Saweetie, or any other popular female rap artist I would pick them anytime over her. I just don't like Nicki's songs or how she seems to treat others. Reading that she harassed the woman who accused her husband of sexual assault just is disgusting. At least by all accounts some of my favorite music artists (Big Boi and Andre 3000 of OutKast, Kendrick Lamar) are cool and not jerks.

Is Nicki Minaj Retiring or Just Trolling Us?

I have never made it a secret I lack much of any enthusiasm for Nicki Minaj. Unlike the rapper who has taken a lot of press that Nicki used to get, Cardi B., whom I have at times been really hard on but will admit has some solid jams and is a pleasant person, anything I've ever heard Nicki rap on has only suffered from her presence. Also, she apparently is a huge, "Meanie," to put it politely. Nicki Minaj tweeted yesterday how she plans to retire from rapping and focus on starting a family with her love, Kenneth Petty. This announcement of course had nothing to do with how none of Nicki's songs were hitting the radio/streaming/etc. lately and how dare anyone state she is desperate to troll us all for some press.

I don't know what Nicki Minaj's long-game is here, but if she is indeed retiring or simply taking a break from rap to truly focus on starting a family I honestly wish her the best as I love being a parent and would tell you having a kid/kids is awesome. If this is just a ploy to get media attention however, then that is honestly par for the course with Nicki doing whatever it takes to get headlines besides actually, you know, making good music.

I'm Sick of Any Current and Possible Covers of Toto's song, "Africa."

12/16/18 Update: In an interesting twist, "Saturday Night Live," touched upon this subject and the legacy of Weezer as well last night.

You know what was fun at first then got way overplayed on the radio, at parties, basically anywhere? The cover version of, "Africa," that Weezer did. I am a fan of Weezer, they have some solid songs, and that cover of, "Africa," was funny in how it came about via a fan pestering them on Twitter. It also is a solid cover. I am sick and tired of hearing it everywhere all the time, however. Plus, I was worried it might inspire other people to try and cover the song in hopes they would get some publicity, and sure enough now Pitbull of all people has a pseudo-cover of the song he did for the, "Aquaman," soundtrack. I have listened to it and you can if you want to put yourself through auditory pain:

This needs to stop. Before anyone else gets the bright idea to do a cover of, "Africa," they need to be told it is a horrible idea. It was a bit clever and kind of funny when Weezer did  it, but now I (and I imagine others) are sick of it being blared all the time and if Pitbull thinks he can offer his own take on the song it is only so long before other artists try. I have zero desire to hear Nicki Minaj spitting mediocre verses about how delicious her vagina is over, "Africa," and even though I've lately been giving Taylor Swift a pass, if she dares think a weird country-ballad version of, "Africa," is worth doing I will probably start screaming until I am hoarse. I am begging everyone in the world, please let  just Toto and maybe Weezer (once the song is less overplayed) do, "Africa," and find some other random song to cover for fun. I mean, it's the holiday season and, "Last Christmas," by Wham! is a great song I always enjoy covers of, maybe people should do that, please?

Nicki Minaj and Cardi B Are Feuding and I'm Just Saddened by the Whole Thing

I have a question: Why can't we have two super-successful women in rap without some kind of feud or fight erupting? Male rappers of course will at times have, "Beef," and it can end very tragically or seem really, really stupid. Often male rappers will get along just fine however, being friends and collaborating a bunch. Yet, it seems like there can only ever be one big-time female rapper and if any others emerge people act like we need a fight to the death (of a career at least) to determine who is, "Better." I mean, for so long we had the reign of Lil' Kim as the big-name, "Bad Bitch," before Nicki Minaj came along and stole that crown. Then, Cardi B--who had been underground and struggling for a long time--was able to break-out onto the mainstream scene, and ever since then there has been an effort to construe her and Nicki as foes. Well, I guess folk got what they wanted.

Apparently at a big New York City Fashion Event there was allegedly a comment made by Nicki Minaj to Cardi B about how good or bad of a mother Cardi is. This resulted in a shoe apparently being thrown and Cardi rushing at Nicki in the hopes of--as the kids today say--"Fucking her up." Both women had their security intervene however and Cardi B was rushed-out by her team. Reading the whole sad saga about how we got here is whatever the opposite of, "Fun," would be, and I'm just depressed about all this. The whole thing seems to be a mixture of other folk trying to turn these women against each other, the ladies themselves feeling their success is threatened by another talent, and of course a good dose of everyone's ego making them eager to say, "Come at me," to anyone who questions their skill/success.

My thoughts on Nicki Minaj's music.

I'm not really a fan of either woman, I always say Lil' Kim did so much of this first and did it better. That said, I don't like any songs by Nicki and find when I've read articles about her or seen shows/interviews she's done she seems relatively unpleasant while meanwhile Cardi B has at least one song I enjoy and appears to be one of the most energetic, funny, and peppy people around. That said, it shouldn't matter if I like one of these women more than the other, they should both be able to have success and enjoy stardom without having to feud and fight. They are mad at each other though, so expect plenty of press about that and in the ultimate twist this will probably only help both of them to get more sales/streams, promotional deals, and the like.

In a Shocking Twist, Cardi B Has a New Song I Kind of Like

I have discussed before how I'm not really a fan of the newer female rappers such as Nicki Minaj and Cardi B who act as if they are trailblazers when really they are basically doing what folk like Lil' Kim and others did first. I mean, I even said how, "Bodak Yellow," was one of the worst songs I had heard in quite awhile. Therefore, you can color me surprised that a song with Cardi B (as well as Bad Bunny and J Balvin) was one I actually found kind of catchy and...good?

The song is, "I Like It," and features Cardi B doing her usual boastful raps, but she actually has some solid verses in this song, seems to adapt her flow to fit the song's pace, and as the tune is her with other artists she doesn't wear out her welcome. In another interesting twist, a chunk of the song is in Spanish with Bad Bunny speaking both it as well as English, and J Blavin rapping exclusively in Spanish. That delightful international flair mixed with the energetic horns and booming bass make a song that immediately catches your ear and makes you tap your foot along. I'm a surprised as anyone that Cardi B is on a track I quite enjoyed, but let's just enjoy this nice turn of events.

Dear Nicki Minaj, You're Trying Too Hard

Yes, that is Nicki Minaj having a three-way with herself.

I debated if I wanted to write this article because I didn't want to seem like I was criticizing Nicki Minaj for being a sexual person. I am someone who loves people being comfortable with their sexuality, expressing it how they please, and otherwise am not a prude in any way. That said, having seen the latest cover to the magazine, "Paper," and looking at interior images too I feel I need to say, "Nicki Minaj, you are trying too hard."

I seriously have no problem with the, "Hyper-sexual bad bitch rapper," act that Nicki has been doing, I just liked it more the first time Lil' Kim was doing it and many a person out there (Lil' Kim included) would argue Nicki's whole motif is basically taking what Lil' Kim did, going a bit further, and claiming she's some kind of amazing creative force for doing what's already occurred. Plus, if we're being honest Lil' Kim could still rap circles around Minaj.

The only thing worse than Nicki Minaj is three of her.

In case you've been living under a rock, "Paper," magazine is a publication that likes to try to, "Break the internet," with shocking photo-spreads and articles, having done this kind of stuff before with Kim Kardashian and now giving us Nicki Minaj with clever Photoshop-editing making it look like she is having a three-way with herself. First of all, the idea of wanting to not just have sex with a manifestation of yourself, but a three-way of yourself sounds like the epitome of narcissism. It reminds me of that scene in, "American Pyscho," where Christian Bale's character pays two sex-workers to have sex with him and allow him to tape it...with his character then proceeding to keep the camera's focus entirety on him and how amazing he is as a sexual force in his mind. This isn't to say Nicki Minaj is a narcissistic serial killer, but the fact that I even drew the mental comparison says something, I would argue.

A bunch of people have been critical of this spread for a variety of reasons, with Eve thinking it isn't a good thing, and Wendy Williams stating it looks desperate. I want to state again I am by no means trying to slut-shame Nicki for doing this. I will admit without hesitation she is a beautiful woman and the imagery is very sexually charged--but it also just looks really self-obsessed and a bit like a cynical marketing ploy to play-up the, "I'm a raunchy rapper," image she's cultivated.

I'm amazed I haven't seen more, "Me, Myself, and I," puns.

Nicki Minaj has every right to be as sexual as she likes and people can respond accordingly with accolades or criticism. I have no problem with the photos and will give props to whoever had the technical skill to pull-off the illusion of three Nicki Minaj all going at it. I will say I take issue with how it just seems so calculated, narcissistic, and observe these stunts really do just remind me of when Lil' Kim did it first and did it better.  You're trying too hard, Nicki. Work on your flow and give us some solid rhymes and then maybe I'll care more.