Cardi B shot down Jermaine Dupri’s assessment that contemporary female rappers are all rapping about the same thing — in his case, stripping and dancing — in a video posted to Twitter Thursday night.
Cardi’s comments came after Dupri gave an interview with People where he spoke about breaking ground with Da Brat in the Nineties, but demurred when asked to name his favorite female MCs in 2019. “The reason why I can’t say is because I feel like they’re all rapping about the same thing,” Dupri said. “It’s like strippers rapping and as far as rap goes, I’m not getting who’s the best rapper. I’m getting like, ‘Ok, you got a story about you dancing in the club, you got a story about you dancing in the club, you got a story about you dancing in the club.’ Who’s going to be the rapper?”
When asked when what he would like to see instead, Dupri said, “At some point, somebody’s gonna have to break out of that mold and talk about other things.”
In her response, Cardi B linked Dupri’s comments with those of other critics who have complained, as she put it, that “female rappers only talk about they pussy and shit.” Cardi then offered the expertly glib retort: “First of all, I rap about my pussy because she my best friend. And second of all, it’s because it seems like that’s what people want to hear.”
SUPPORT SUPPORT SUPPORT pic.twitter.com/5gZQ963UdF
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) July 11, 2019
Cardi B acknowledged that after “Be Careful,” her Invasion of Privacy single about infidelity, received a tepid and confused response, she figured people just weren’t interested in hearing that kind of song. While Cardi suggested she didn’t mind catering to her audience at times, she also put the onus on those critics to seek out and acknowledge the myriad female rappers who are writing about other topics.
“There’s a lot of female rappers that be rapping they ass off and don’t be talking about they pussy and don’t be talking about getting down and dirty, and y’all don’t be supporting them! Y’all don’t be supporting them and they be mad dope! These bloggers don’t support them, they don’t give them the recognition, so don’t blame that shit on us, when y’all not the ones that’s supporting them.”