Lil Baby once picked his favourite female rapper of all time
The world of female rappers is growing. In fact, let’s not call them female rappers. Just rappers will do. World-renowned artist Lil Baby has said he recognises the immense talent the women in rap music have.
Many new female artists are proving themselves capable of topping the charts and delivering powerful performances on stage. Names like Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla, Ice Spice, and SexyRedd are known worldwide.
Women have been contributing to hip-hop music since the very beginning. Sharon Green, also known as MC Sha-Rock, was the first female rapper to ever be recorded on vinyl in 1962. In the 1990s, when hip-hop was in its prime, the legendary Mary J Blige released her first album. Soon after, she made history as the first person to bring a mix of RnB and hip-hop to wider audiences with its remixed version. She basically paved the way for the genre of soul hip-hop, which has amassed a huge listening base as of today. Artists like Young Thug, Ty Dolla $ign, and Post Malone all fall under melodic rap, which was pioneered by Blige.
Male and female artists alike are constantly influenced by memorable rappers like Missy Elliot, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and so many more. As of 2024, many new rappers have come up and made their mark. Three such musicians have had songs in the Billboard Top Ten, including the long-time star Nicki Minaj.
This is why, to no one’s surprise, Lil Baby answered the question, “Who is your favourite female rapper?” without hesitation. Several people will probably have the same answer as him because Nicki Minaj has pretty much dominated the music industry since being discovered by Lil Wayne in 2009.
It may have required a little bit more effort to keep up with the numerous new people in the game, but Minaj’s success doesn’t seem to be affected too much by some healthy competition. At least not most of the time. She has famously had very publicised issues with Cardi B, who just earlier this year blocked Minaj’s song ‘Pink Friday Girls’ from hitting number one when she released her song ‘Like What (Freestyle)’. Nicki has also made her dislike for Megan Thee Stallion apparent when she assumed Megan’s track ‘HISS’ was a diss track aimed towards her. Something that Megan has denied being true.
Despite her issues with some women, Minaj consistently collaborates with other artists (Ice Spice being the latest one) and seems to get on with the men in the industry most of the time. This is probably why Lil Baby doesn’t hesitate to label her as the best female rapper in the game. It was just a couple of years ago that they released two songs together, ‘Bussin” and ‘Do We Have A Problem?’ which shows they have a great work relationship.
Lil Baby is known for having a distinctive flow with the ability to balance weaving new sounds into his signature style. It is pretty evident that someone with his talent is able to recognise similar abilities in others, and it’s refreshing to see him appreciate the women in the game. Let’s hope that his favourite rapper can also mimic his sentiments when it comes to her contemporaries.