Ja Rule says Nicki Minaj solidified her place in hip-hop.
Ja Rule recently sat down with The Shade Room, where the rapper praised Nicki Minaj and states that she solidified her place in the game.
“I think Nicki gets proper praise,” he said. “Her place in the game is solidified. It’s solid. There were no female MCs out and about until Nicki came back out. Before her, the last one was like Lauryn Hill.”
The ‘Put It On Me’ emcee then shouted out female artists before Nicki Minaj. “And before her was like Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte and before her it’s even further back,” he continued. “The female MC — they’re having a run like they’ve never had before. To me, in my opinion, Nicki reopened that door.”
Just recently, Minaj linked up with up-and-coming female rapper Ice Spice, who was also influenced by the Pink Friday artist. “When I saw Nicki, I was so mesmerized,” said Spice. “She’s the first female rapper that I seen. And ever since then, I was kinda set on what I wanted to be.”
Although the rhymer Ja Rule may have meant well, his fans quickly pointed out his oversight of numerous female hip-hop artists who debuted before Nicki Minaj and after Lauryn Hill, such as Missy Elliott, Trina, and Eve, among others. Additionally, many people were displeased with Ja’s exclusion of two of the most significant women in the genre’s history, namely Lil Kim and Foxy Brown.
