Rap veteran Ice-T spoke highly of Young Money artist Nicki Minaj, defending her a bit for some of the criticism she has received for her rap flow sounding too "pop".
He states that despite how her sound may come off, it's all a result of growing as a hip hop artist.
"I think it's all 'real hip-hop.' You have the core hip-hop, which would just be beats and breaks, more something like what you hear with DJ Premier. Then you get into the more highly produced hip-hop, which is something like what DJ Khaled does. But at some point, it starts to get kind of pop. It goes into this other realm."
"Nicki went on tour with Britney Spears, so she's on another channel. But to me, it all comes from hip-hop; it's like a growth of hip-hop, whether you agree with that growth or not. Like me, I'm not the biggest Nicki Minaj fan but I think she can rhyme."
Ice-T continued to speak on how unique Nicki's voice and flow is, and how effective the delivery of her rhymes are. But he admits that she isn't on a Lil Kim level.
"She does her thing. She has her own way of doing it. She has an ill vocal delivery. She kind of reminds me of a female Busta Rhymes, like how she throws her voice in different directions - but she's no Lil Kim. I think when people say 'real hip-hop,' they want it more buried in the streets. They want it more connected to the streets and the grime and the roughness of the streets. They don't want the fluff."
Do you agree with Ice-T's point of view?
Source: sohh.com
