Reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100, and knocking Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” from the perch in the process, is a massive achievement for relative rap newcomer Cardi B, whose debut single “Bodak Yellow” topped the chart on Monday. But it’s also a huge deal for female rap artists more generally: Cardi B is only the second solo female rapper to top the chart and the first in almost 20 years.
As if topping the charts with her debut single wasn’t enough, an ecstatic Cardi B has also received acknowledgments from some of the biggest names in rap, many of whom the 24-year-old would have grown up listening to.
Though Cardi B has obviously not been congratulated by every single female rapper ever, the undisputed queens of female rap’s golden age, Lil’ Kim and Missy Elliot, have already tweeted their congrats at the new star.
Lauryn Hill, whose 1998 track “Doo Wop (That Thing)” was the first and only other song by a solo female rapper to top the charts, tweets infrequently and has not yet tweeted about “Bodak Yellow.” Nor have Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Eve, or Foxy Brown (though in her defense, Foxy Brown hasn’t tweeted since Election Day 2016).
Reigning queen Nicki Minaj and rap mainstay Trina have also warmly congratulated Cardi B, though we are yet to hear from the combative Remy Ma, who back in July came out swinging at Cardi B over a diss-tweet that turned out to be a hack. Azealia Banks has not tweeted either, though this may have more to do with being banned from Twitter.
In a part of the music industry often known for its beefs and rivalries, it’s encouraging to see what an empowering and supportive space female rap can be. As Slate’s own Chris Molanphy wrote in Pitchfork earlier this year, the music industry has generally struggled to recognize multiple female rappers at once, with “one rap queen generally reign[ing] at a time.” When the industry demands there can only be one, who that queen is can get ugly. Not so today.
Finally, girl (rap) world was at peace.
