Hey A.T. Thanks for the comment. Let us first point out that we named Jean Grae one of our “5 Reasons Why New York Hip Hop Doesn’t Suck” for August 2010, so it isn’t like we support one but ignore the other. The second thing is, we do try to cover/support the full spectrum of hip hop artists from the region (when we feel it is warranted), from underground to mainstream, and we think that overall, we do that pretty well. We hope that we’re not expected to mirror your specific particular taste, and that despite a post here and there that doesn’t align with your liking, you’ll still stick with us.

That being said, we can’t quite understand why anyone in our position WOULDN’T cover Nicki Minaj right now, for several reasons. One, she is a fascinating figure in hip hop and pop music, the first female rapper to hit a mainstream stride in a long time, and to quite an extreme at that. She can REALLY spit you know, despite those in denial because they may not appreciate her style (though we’d argue that no one was complaining when Busta Rhymes did pretty much the same thing in his day, wild outfits/persona/bugged out expressions/crazy voices and all…) She is about to drop what is arguably one of the most anticipated albums of the year, one of the most anticipated DEBUT albums in a long time, and she’s a rapper from New York.

How could we ignore all of this?

Now, all that being said, we have often complained that the “cartoon-Nicki” receives a bit too much spotlight, and that “skills-Nicki” really should be given more light to shine. We have sheepishly admitted that she is something of a “guilty pleasure.” And maybe she HAS sold her soul. So? She’s still pretty damn nasty on the mic (“Bottoms Up,” “Monster”) and last we checked, we like good music, regardless of whether it’s “mainstream” or not.

Look, we promise that we will absolutely give Jean Grae’s “Cake or Death” project it’s well-deserved place in our e-pages. But right now, the phenomenon that is Nicki Minaj is here, and to ignore it because it might not conform with the views of certain hip hop purist/elitists would demonstrate a bias we do not care to subscribe to.

In other words, we think a lot of people hate on Nicki Minaj largely because she has become part of the “machine” more than anything. Your own comments suggest as much. You didn’t question her skill, just that she’s being controlled.

Yes, she’s moved from street-flavored heat spitter to Gaga-ish entertainer, but there’s room for that in hip hop. People complained for years that hip hop was following a formula, that New York hip hop wasn’t breaking out, and here we have someone who annihilated the mold, and yet we’re still not satisfied?

We believe we can have both. We’ll listen to her AND Jean Grae. Same way we’ll listen to Joell Ortiz and Homeboy Sandman. Two very different artists, but all very much hip hop.

There’s nothing wrong with that.