Since the release of her debut single ‘Bodak Yellow,’ in 2017’ Cardi B has been an unstoppable force in hip-hop. However, her success in the realm of rap shifted the landscape of the genre an unfathomable amount.
Growing up, Cardi B (real name Belcalis Almanzar) listened to a lot of late-1990s and early-2000s hip-hop and was particularly drawn to female artists from her hometown of New York City. One of the most prevalent female acts of the ’90s was Lil Kim, the first lady of Bad Boy Entertainment.
Lil Kim was one of the most influential female MCs of her day. Coming to prominence in the mid-1990s, Lil Kim (real name Kimberly Jones) was joined at the hip to Biggie Smalls, and a lot of today’s female fashion trends were started by her. Jones was discovered by Diddy in the early-’90s and became an integral part of the music executive’s supergroup Junior M.A.F.I.A. as its only female.
With Jones’ debut album, Hardcore peaking at number 11 on the Billboard 200 in 1996, the double-platinum project empowered a lot of females, and Cardi B was a big fan of Lil Kim. In 2021, when Jones collaborated with the disgraced Nick Cannon, many hip-hop fans took to social media to attack her.
One Twitter user wrote, “Lil Kim has officially crashed and burned her last crumb of legacy. What is this, hunny…” Another posted, “It’s been a decade since she seen a chart.” However, Cardi caught wind of the disrespect and wasn’t happy, to say the least.
Immediately hopping on social media to defend her idol, Almanzar tweeted, “I’m tired of it, and it’s heartbreaking…She’s so sweet, supportive and a REAL F*CKIN LEGEND.” She continued, “I remember when I used to beef wit bitches, and I used to put on my MySpace her song F*CK YOU!’ I think it gotta be these 2000s born kids on this app that don’t know about s**t!”
Not understanding why Jones was getting attacked for a song with Nick Cannon, Cardi concluded by writing, “What do a collab go to do with someone constantly getting CYBER BULLY?” You can view the Bronx-rapper’s tweet below.