“Those Who Really Need To Be Worried By Nicki Minaj’s Record Is Fergie, Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado”

Hip-Hop pioneer MC Lyte has weighed in on the recent exchange between Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim and pointed out who should be in fear of the Barbie's musical reign.

According to Lyte, Minaj’s versatility is knocking down the barriers between hip-hop and pop.

“Those who really need to be worried by Nicki’s record is Fergie, Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado,” Lyte said in an interview. “Nicki is coming out to win. She’s not thinking of the block. She’s not just thinking of the city. So she’s able to handle so many areas of what it takes right now to be an international star. So hats off to everybody that’s doing it but, I see the vision that Nicki sees for herself that people probably didn’t see before…You cannot tell me that any female emcee listening to either one of [Kim or Minaj] don’t want to spit a verse themselves because it’s that competitive nature that hip-hop brings to the community. So, it’s the art. People love to do it.” (VH1)

When recently asked if Kim’s retorts negatively affect the female movement in hip-hop, Minaj admitted the Queen Bee is not helping the rap game.

“It does, it does. But the thing that I want to promote is that if you see someone doing their thing, give them their props. We all have it hard and face the same challenges as female emcees. Show some mutual love and respect for each other so that it doesn’t get nasty. And she can be a nasty character.” (New York Times)

Two weeks ago, Kim dropped a full-length diss track aimed at Minaj called “Black Friday.”

Let the war of words continue. Lil’ Kim delivers her full attack against Nicki Minaj on “Black Friday.” Over Pharoahe Monch‘s instrumental from “Simon Says,” the Queen Bee spits stinging words about the Harajuku Barbie and her Young Money labelmate: “This hood sh*t, you and Drake ain’t built for/ This the shit the other b*tch almost got killed for.” She doesn’t stop there, calling the Pink Friday lyricist a clone. “This ain’t a championship fight, I been the greatest/ See the fact is, what you doing, I did it/ Lames tryna clone my style and run wit it/ That’s cool, I was the first one wit it/ You’s a Lil’ Kim wannabe, you just hate to admit it.” (Rap-Up)

Minaj’s Pink Friday debut album landed on the sales chart last week.

Young Money rapper Nicki Minaj’s long-awaited Pink Friday finally hit retail shelves and debuted at No. 2. With a week under her pink belt, the emcee’s debut album has pushed out 376,000 copies. (SOHH Sales Wrap)

Check out MC Lyte’s interview below: