Legends Supporting Legends: Cardi B Is ‘Tired’ Of Backlash Against Lil’ Kim, Calling On Others To Show More Respect

There’s no doubt 47-year-old rapper Lil’ Kim is an icon in the industry, born and raised in Brooklyn before going on to garner massive success with hits like “No Time,” “Magic Stick” and “The Jump Off.” Who else can remember rapping along to Kim’s verse on “Lady Marmalade,” A.K.A. “we drink wine with diamonds in the glass by the case, the meaning of expensive taste” even before we were old enough to actually sing it with truth?

The “Not Tonight” rapper has proved her legendary status in performances ranging from this long-forgotten about gem with Cyndi Lauper singing “Time After Time/Lighters Up,” all the way to this epic rendition of “Crush on You” at the Apollo.

It’s little wonder fellow rapper Cardi B is fed up with the backlash and critiques towards Lil’ Kim, especially considering how she helped pioneer women’s rap.

Cardi B rushed to Kim’s defense after Twitter exploded in controversy regarding the Queen Bee’s latest song, “Big Santa Papi.” Released as part of the Nick Cannon-directed VH1 movie “Miracles Across 125th Street,” the lyrics are classic Lil’ Kim, with iconic puns like “Santa papi, can you make it reindeer?” that we’ll be singing along to until further notice.

With Lil’ Kim also acting in the film, the channel released a visual on social media to go along with the holiday song. While all seemed well and good, Twitter wasn’t having it, taking to the platform to criticize the rapper’s new song, and how it might negatively impact her legacy.

Harsh critiques towards the legendary rapper ranged from, “Lil Kim has officially crashed and burned her last crumb of legacy, what is this hunny…” all the way to “Lil Kim really tried w that Santa Papi s**t.” Another listener simply tweeted, “Lil kim and this santa papi video ……. ENUFF.”

That being said, countless fans also rushed to her defense, with one writing, “this is a role lil’ kim is playing in a comedy film. her character is eccentric… but here y’all go posting this without context to try and get her dragged.” Meanwhile, another shared, “wait Lil Kim Santa Papi Christmas song a little catchy hol up.”

But no fan was as passionate as Cardi B herself in defending Kim, reminding everyone why they should show respect to one of rap’s G.O.A.T.s.

The “I Like It” rapper passionately tweeted against all of Lil Kim’s backlash for “Big Santa Papi,” writing, “I’m tired of it and it’s heartbreaking…She’s is so sweet ,supportive and a REAL FN LEGEND.” Cardi continued, going down memory lane: “I remember when I used to beef wit bs and I used to put on my MySpace her song [‘Fk You’].” While the rapper has never seemed so relatable to us, she wondered: “I think it gotta be these 2000’s born kids on this app that don’t know about s*t.” Yeah, shots fired!

Cardi B wasn’t done defending one of her biggest idols, replying to a fan asking why she hasn’t collaborated with Lil’ Kim yet. She wrote, “what do a collab go to do with someone constantly getting [cyberbullied]?” Explaining she is “a woman [with] feelings” who knows “how much it hurts to constantly get picked on,” the “WAP” rapper said they will collab soon, but it “is going to be at the right time & the right song.” Saying it will be a “big moment,” Cardi said she prefers not to “rush it” but that it doesn’t take away from Kim being the “greatest.”

No hay duda that Lil’ Kim is a pioneer that paved the way for female rappers like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion today. As one fan tweeted, “this generation don’t know Kim’s impact and the doors she opened… the kids today needs to take a 💺 n listen to 90s rap 👊🏾💯.” We couldn’t agree more!