Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage
Nicki Minaj has roiled the world of hip-hop again by re-imagining a controversial classic. “Barbie Dreams,” the raunchy highlight of Minaj’s latest album Queen, finds her playfully imagining how some of the biggest names in hip-hop might perform in the bedroom. Even though she repeatedly says that she’s ”just playing” in the song’s chorus, the outraged reaction on social media to the name-drops of Drake, ex-boyfriend Meek Mill, and many others, made it necessary for Minaj to explain her intentions on Twitter:
She would elaborate during a Beats 1 interview:
You guys know ‘Barbie Dreams’ is not a diss, right? It’s just some funny shit. I love them. I said things about people who I know can take a joke and won’t be emotional about it. Reading the reactions to ‘Barbie Dreams’ is fucking hilarious. Everyone is saying how disrespectful ‘Barbie Dreams’ is, and that’s why I fucking love it.
If “Barbie Dreams” is not a diss, then what is it? Nicki is clearly paying homage to The Notorious B.I.G.’s original shocker-of-a-track “Just Playing (Dreams).” Listeners old enough to recognize the classic James Brown loop and the familiar hook immediately understood why the song’s opening words are “R.I.P. to B.I.G. Classic shit.” Nicki also isn’t the first rapper to do their own version of Big’s “Just Playing,” but the fallout from the song is a reminder that humor in hip-hop has a history of rubbing people the wrong way.
Released as a promo single for his debut album Ready To Die in 1994, B.I.G.’s “Just Playing (Dreams)” crossed multiple lines multiple times as he fantasized about sex with the female R&B stars of the early ’90s. The song featured some run-of-the-mill objectification:
Wait a minute, what about my honey Mary?
Them jeans they fitting like a glove
I had a crush on you since Real Love
But there are parts where the lyrics get more bawdy:
As I bust the cherry of Monica and Terry
Backshots to Chaka, I know that pussy hairy
Sade, ooh, I know that pussy tight
And some of the lines were outright disturbing:
Make Raven-Symoné call date rape
Fans mostly ignored the frankly despicable parts of the song, eventually making it a party anthem. But not everyone was dancing to the music. New York Radio personality, and Biggie’s former road DJ, DJ Enuff claims that Patti LaBelle was so angry about being mentioned in the song, that she got B.I.G. kicked off of MCA Records (Like Ms. LaBelle, Puff Daddy’s Uptown Records was under the MCA umbrella).
Meanwhile, Atlanta R&B quartet Xscape was the target of one of the song’s meaner lines when B.I.G. stated, “I’ll fuck RuPaul before I fuck them ugly ass Xscape bitches.” In an interview with the New York radio show The Breakfast Club, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, formerly of Xscape, discussed her first encounter with Biggie—which happened to be the same night he died.
We were at the party and he asked to talk to me and Kandi. Kandi was like, ‘I’m not going over there. I don’t wanna talk to him.’ So I was just like I’m going to go over there and see what he’s talking about. He just apologized and said that he should’ve never said it and how he was ugly too and how you guys look good now. And that was that. I just told him we weren’t feeling him at all. But I was glad we got to talk before he passed. It was on March 9th, the same night.
While, “I’m ugly, too” isn’t exactly a great apology, at least one member of Xscape accepted it and allowed Biggie to make amends. Fellow Xscape member Kandi of Real Housewives fame was not as forgiving and, understandably, refused to speak to Biggie that night. Unfortunately, she never got the chance to close that dark chapter on a high note—something she later said that she regrets. Despite the controversy that surrounded the track, other artists would go on to cover and pay homage to Biggie’s filthy party starter in subsequent years.
First up was Biggie’s protege Lil' Kim. On her debut album Hard Core she had her own version of “Dreams” where the lyrics featured a who’s who of the biggest male R&B singers of the time. Just like Nicki would do with her version, Kim flipped the script on the gender dynamics of Big’s original. (Although Big did write many of Kim’s rhymes, it’s unclear if he wrote “Dreams” or not) Equally as raunchy and over-the-top as Biggie’s original, Kim’s “Dreams” included mentions of R. Kelly, the late Prince, and D’Angelo.
What the deal on that Prince cat
He be lookin' fruity
But you still can eat the booty
Brian McKnights tight
Joe is kinda slow
Oh, what about D'Angelo
I want some of that brown sugar
Much like Big, Kim’s version featured some questionable lyrics:
I’m on fire
Gettin' head by the Harlem Boys Choir
While Kim’s album cut didn’t cause quite the level of controversy that “Just Playing” did, another New York rapper nearly started an all-out war with the rest of the hip-hop industry toward the end of the decade with his take on B.I.G.’s song.
In 1999, 50 Cent was just an up-and-coming rapper from Queens trying to build some buzz for his debut album Power of the Dollar. Even then it was clear that he already had a penchant for conflict. Produced by The Trackmasters and featuring Notorious B.I.G. producer, Deric “D. Dot” Angelettie reprising his Madd Rapper character on the hook, 50 Cent’s “How To Rob” imagined the Queens emcee robbing over 40 rappers, singers, actors, and other public figures with connections to the hip-hop world.
Just like Nicki, 50’s first words on the song are “R.I.P. B.I.G.” but that still wasn’t enough to keep things light. The song was made at the behest of the Trackmasters, but they understood how it could be misinterpreted. To ensure the comedic effect wasn’t lost on listeners, Poke of the Trackmasters explained to Complex:
We told him to diss Trackmasters on the song because we didn’t want people to think that he’s just going at people, we wanted them to think that he’s having fun so he’s even robbing his own dudes.
While some artists took it in stride, many of his imaginary victims did not take kindly to even fictional threats of robbery. The original version featured lyrics mentioning Mariah Carey and her ex-husband, then Sony Music CEO Tommy Mottola:
I’ll manhandle Mariah, like, ‘Bitch, get on the ground
You ain’t with Tommy no more, who gonna protect you now?
Just like how Patti Labelle kicked up a storm at MCA because of Biggie, Mariah Carey did the same at Columbia (where both she and 50 were signed to at the time). 50 didn’t get dropped but did end up replacing the lyric with one aimed at Mary J. Blige and the R&B singer Case.
It wasn’t just pop divas who took offense. Jay-Z famously gave 50 half a bar on his Life and Times of S. Carter Vol. 3 album cut “It’s Hot (Some Like It Hot)”:
Go against Jigga your ass is dense
I’m about a dollar, what the fuck is 50 Cents?
Big Pun also had words for 50 on his song “My Turn” where he rapped:
And to the 50 Cent rapper, very funny, get your nut off
’Cause in real life, you don’t know
I’ll blow your motherfuckin' head off (ooh yeah)
Even more menacingly, a disguised voice, whose speech and cadence sounded remarkably like Raekwon, unleashed a diatribe aimed at Fif’ on “Clyde Smith,” a cut from Ghostface Killah’s Supreme Clientele:
Yo that nigga 50 Cent?
That’s yo, I don’t even know why he try to do that little dumb ass shit
Right there
But I’m a tell you something
You could say all them other niggas name
But niggas, niggas gon see them based on that big daddy
I know why they ain’t bark on you
Cuz they ain’t try to let your new broke ass trying to come out in the game
And act like they letting you live off they strength
Ok, you ain’t even that big, dig?
And if I see you up in here
I’m a have about 500 wolves on you
50 was never able to reap the benefits of all the buzz. He was shot nine times in front of his grandmother’s house in May of 2000 due to an unrelated beef, which led to him being dropped from Columbia, his first album being permanently shelved. But he would later re-emerge as a megastar in the early 2000s.
Eight years after “How To Rob,” another Queens emcee would use The Notorious B.I.G.’s surprisingly durable template to help boost their fledgling career. Her name was Nicki Minaj. “Barbie Dreams” was not Nicki’s first time using Biggie’s concept. Featured on her 2007 mixtape Playtime Is Over, “Dreams ‘07” has Nicki describing having sexual exploits with with up-and-coming rappers. The track is more of a snapshot of an era then a memorable song:
Put it in half way, Red Cafe
Put the pussy on his freckles, haha that tickles
Uncle Murda could bring the handcuffs
Why is that, I gotta watch out gotta get a roughneck
As for Gravy he might could beat
You know them fat niggas love to eat
While most of the rappers mentioned on “Dreams ’07” did not go on to superstardom, Nicki Minaj did. Now four albums deep with dozens of pop hits, memorable verses, and millions of albums sold, “Barbie Dreams” is evidence that she hasn’t forgotten her roots, has an understanding of hip-hop history, and has a pretty good sense of humor.
Either way, the song has generated a ton of buzz for Nicki, proving that the 25-year-old concept still turns heads. So it’s only a matter of time before another enterprising artist tries it again.
