Travis Scott and Nicki Minaj: A royal rap feud

BY ELENA VALDEZ

Travis Scott is coming for the rap crown, or, at least, he made an attempt.

After the release of his newest album “Astroworld,” he managed to overthrow the self-proclaimed queen of rap, Nicki Minaj, on the charts. “Astroworld” dropped on August 3 and immediately climbed the charts to number one. Scott’s eight-day advantage over Nicki was one of the few things she had theorized that aided him in securing his spot at the top, even when Minaj released her highly anticipated album “Queen” on August 11.

Minaj was unable to secure number one and was stuck at number two on the Billboard R&B charts during the first week of the album’s release. Minaj was not happy about coming in second place. It was not until a plethora of tweets calling out Scott’s faulty marketing and reliance on his Kardashian ties that Minaj was able to move up to number one. Her position may have moved but her views on the matter have not budged.

“He out here selling f*cking clothes got y’all thinking he selling f*cking music,” Minaj said.

Through a string of tweets, Minaj shaded Scott- claiming the only reason for the album’s success could be accredited to Kylie Jenner’s Instagram post, captioned “Me and storm ready for tour.” Her first tweet not only discredited Scott as an artist but also expressed gratitude toward her fans.

Both albums have gained the attention of the world, proving to be a successful marketing ploy. Minaj simply won’t settle for second and understandably so. Evident in her lyrics and tweets, Minaj poured her heart and soul into the production of “Queen.” Minaj failing to reach number one within the first week was insulting, especially considering how serious she takes her craft and the fallacy in Billboard’s charting policy.

She did not believe Scott truly earned his number one spot. The only reason Scott was able to top the charts was his connection to the Kardashian fame. The instagram post affected the sales of the album and its merchandise bundles available for purchase. Minaj even went back to her roots, tweeting about how her debut album sold over 400,000 copies, claiming no one has been able to do that again. In the same tweet, she of course shamed Scott as well for only selling 50,000 albums.

She expressed her feelings in a joking manner, claiming she now has beef with a newborn baby. Her intentions were not malicious, as she stated on the show.

Once Minaj finally reached number one, she tweeted out.

“I’m actually laughing. #Queen broke the record of being number 1 in 86 countries. Thank Jesus & thank you to my fans.”

His sales were not from music alone- information which Minaj revealed. She confirmed that Scott had been selling clothes and the money made from his fashion endeavours was combined with the profits from the album to produce more impressive numbers, therefore moving him up the charts.

Minaj gave her final thoughts on her Queen Radio Show and summed up the situation. She crowned Scott not as number one, but as “H*e n*gga of the week.” She expressed her feelings in a joking manner, claiming she now has beef with a newborn baby. Her intentions were not malicious, as she stated on the show. Minaj simply wanted the truth to be known and for the crown to be rightfully placed.

“He out here selling f*cking clothes got y’all thinking he selling f*cking music,” Minaj said.

Her tweets made a change, as Billboard officially stated the rules were being changed in order to stay true to strictly album sales. Minaj’s album has gained the recognition it deserves and she has once again proven herself honestly worthy of the throne, unlike a certain male in the court of rap.

Photo curtesy of Capital XTRA