Dueling Divas

Nicki Minaj, Trinidadian-born American rapper, singer, songwriter and voice actress, performs with rapper Cam’ron at Roseland Ballroom on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012 in New York. AP FILE PHOTO

The video–gone viral and shown on numerous shows–of Nicki Minaj cursing and threatening violence against Mariah Carey confirms that the feud between the two divas is indeed true and happening.

However, there are still speculations whether that outburst from Nicki Minaj was staged by the producers for ratings? The thing is whether it is true or not, it is an entirely different matter because there is no way that two artists with such strong personalities and sizable egos to match will perfectly get along and not have disagreements and, realistically speaking, will not want to upstage the other.

But in the case of Nicki Minaj, it wasn’t mere disagreements or differences of opinion but threats of violence and foul language from her directed at Mariah. It was creating an attention-grabbing controversy at its worst that brings in ratings and more importantly, curiosity from viewers to tune in and wait if something more exciting will follow.

Perhaps, that scene-stealing outburst will give “American Idol” that much-needed sense of unpredictability from the panel of judges, where over time, their true personalities and colors will eventually unravel. Maybe this is what the show needs also? But I do hope Nicki Minaj’s mercurial antics do not go any further lest she makes American Idol be the platform of her swan song.

Mariah Carey has accomplished more than Nicki Minaj has done. Just count her number one hits—she has had eighteen. Being that I am in my late 20’s, I am more familiar with Mariah Carey’s later works, namely: her “Butterfly” album where she had hits with the likes of Puff Daddy (P.Diddy) and Mase in the song “Honey” and with Bone Thugs n’ Harmony in the song “Breakdown” and her greatest hits release entitled “1’s” which had the single “Sweetheart” featuring Jermaine Dupri, who was rumored to her boyfriend then. For those who haven’t heard any of these songs from Mariah Carey, they were sang during her peak. I highly recommend listening to them.

Mariah Carey. AP

In the recent jaw-dropping battle of the divas, I leaned more towards Mariah Carey and it was not only because of her stature, which she has gained respectably over more than twenty years, but more so, in the manner she handled a very tense situation—with restraint and a modicum of composure.

One can act like a diva but to embody it in a disgraceful way as Nicki Minaj just exhibited doesn’t really provide a good example to her fans, of whom a large percentage are young girls.

Asfor Mariah Carey, she is more than a name, she is already ESTABLISHED, RESPECTED and has PROVEN her longevity.

Has Nick Minaj attained all of the above already? She needs a decade in the mainstream at least to prove her longevity.

Now these are just my opinions. People can always disagree but doesn’t it seem that Mariah Carey was really the one who could hold her head high after this verbal fiasco? She didn’t lose face in this. If you had “word play” with the names of Nicki and Mariah, what words do you think the young fans now would say upon hearing their names?