“Roman’s Revenge” by Nicki Minaj (ft. Eminem)
“Roman’s Revenge” finds Nicki Minaj’s alter ego, Roman Zolanski and Eminem’s alter ego, Slim Shady take turns to hit back at rap contenders. In doing so, Roman (Minaj) hits particularly at Lil Kim.
As “Roman’s Revenge” begins, Roman takes on a more muscular role of attacking and being ahead of the rap game. She suggests that she is not to be compared with. Although she doesn’t mention Lil Kim in the song, it is obvious that she is responding to the latter because of earlier claims that Nicki had been imitating her style. For this, Nicki claims that she is so hot and talented that her fans and other wanna-be rappers lose their breath by just calling her name. She likens her rap to prison bars which will lock down her opponent’s careers.
Eminem continues by dissing other rappers. Nicki, then concludes the song by claiming that she is on top of her world. As she suggests that Kim is focused on accusing her of taking her place, she tells Kim to leave the spotlight for her if she is not ready to produce hit tracks.
“Roman’s Revenge” Facts
Writing: Nicki Minaj along with Eminem
Production: Swizz Beatz
Album/EP: Minaj’s “Pink Friday”
Release: 30th of October, 2010
Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim’s Feud
The origin of the beef between Minaj and Kim breaks down to a matter of perspective. It fundamentally dates back to 2007 when Minaj imitated Kim on the cover art of one of her mixtapes. To some people, even likely to Nicki herself, doing so was an act of homage. But others interpreted it as ‘biting’, i.e. an artist copying another’s style.
A couple of years later the two of them met. And this is where the story gets a bit convoluted. For according to Nicki, everything was “good” when they crossed paths. But Kim painted a different picture and in the process dissed Minaj in a roundabout way.
Then shortly thereafter both artists were featured on a song by Birdman. And on (the leaked version of) that track, Kim dropped a line which read as if she was dissing Minaj, specifically in terms of the aforementioned album cover. Then other parties got involved such as Ray J (on behalf of Kim) and Drake (on behalf of Nicki).
Moreover Kim and Minaj started talking junk about each other in interviews. Their primary basis for attack was Kim referring to her rival as a “clone”, while Nicki made fun of the fact that Kim’s music was no longer trending. And in long run, it seemed as if Kim was more dedicated to keeping the beef alive than vice versa. But by the end of the 2010s it was by and large dead.
