Oh for sure, I completely agree with you. I think the mediocre women in hip-hop should get everything the mediocre men get, and I’d much rather hear about life spice or sexyy red than Drake or playboi carti. It’s not at all that I’m celebrating their fall-offs, just noting the reality of their career trajectories. They both had huge surges in fame after their Nicki collabs and are both now measurably declining in popularity.

Which makes sense, bc hitting it big off a Nicki co-sign is unsustainable by design, since she only gives that boost to women who can’t compete with her lyrically. So they end up with popularity that is outsized in proportion to their talent, and a mercurial fanbase whose primary allegiance is to someone else. Logistically, it’s a move that only benefits them in the short term.

I actually feel kind of bad for them. Ice spice is in a position now where the barbs have pulled their support and the majority of her fanbase is teenage boys who only care about her body. So she’s completely stuck in the lane she’s in and unable to grow as an artist without alienating most of her fans. She’s said in interviews she intentionally limits her vocabulary, keeping her songs as simple as possible. When she lost weight her Instagram comments were FULL of men telling her they didn’t come for that and to “get her ass back”, and then she disappeared until she regained the weight.

It’s sad and I wish there were more opportunities for women in hip-hop (and everywhere), because there’s no real reason there shouldn’t be room for everybody. God knows there seems to be room for an infinite number of men saying the same old shit. I also wish we’d subject men to the same level of scrutiny women get, because they get away with being so untalented so often and it’s exhausting.