Welcome back to ‘Gram Crumbs, where we check out something that (arguably) lives on Instagram and dissect it from beginning to end. You may recall last week the saga of Remy Ma vs. Nicki Minaj, where Remy dropped two songs about Nicki and Nicki really only threw some casual IG shade. Well, Nicki responded this week, so these ‘Gram Crumbs are dedicated to the Nicki clapback. They say success is the best revenge, and if that’s really true then Nicki Minaj has the upper hand in this beef with Remy Ma. For close to two weeks it was radio silence on Nicki’s side as Remy proceeded to drop TWO songs: “shETHER” and “Another One,” both targeted at Barbz. Meanwhile we were getting this stuff from Nicki:
#fashion this, #fashion that. All this #unbothered stuff in Paris, as Remy was in the studio cranking out that fire. But in true Nicki fashion, she continued her own silent protest with numbers over everything.
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On International Women’s Day, she announced that her feature on Jason Derulo’s latest “Swalla” reached a radio milestone. Meanwhile, she was rumored to be targeting Remy on that song. Exhibit A.
She then proceeded to post a pic with her YMCMB family, Lil Wayne and Drake. We didn’t know at this point that she’d be linking with them on some music, though the rumor mill began churning that Nicki was actually staging a retaliatory song. And then it happened. On Thursday night, Nicki dropped off a 3-pack of tracks: “Regret In Your Tears,” “Changed It” with Lil Wayne, and then the sort-of Remy response track “No Frauds” with Wayne and Drake.
Did she play hardball or softball? Well, it literally depends on who you ask. But what Nicki DID prove, was her ability to make a hit out of her target:
Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.
More.
Then Nicki makes history:
Then Spotify gets in on the action:
Meanwhile, Wayne is on two songs, but only posts the “No Frauds” cover art. Maybe because it’s such a wonderful #TBT photo?
Insert that pensive emoji face here. So now over in Remyville, we learned that “shETHER” is getting pulled from the interwebs because Universal is calling infringement on Remy’s use of Nas’s “Ether” beat. The other day, Remy posted this photo on IG, captioning it with her “shETHER” bar “Are you dumb?” but now it looks like the Nation of Pinkslam has taken to the comments to pop off:
Nicki, meanwhile, has a whole squad of stars singing her praises—including Ariana Grande, Tinashe, Selena Gomez, and Jhene Aiko.
And here we are. Did Nicki win by putting her money where her mouth was? Did Remy win because she crafted entire diss tracks that may not make it to radio but abided by the real rap rules of beefing? Will Remy respond to this song? It’s all up in the air. And where is Drake while all of this is going on?
…seeking protection.
Kathy Iandoli needs no frauds. Follow her on Twitter/Instagram @kath3000.