Nick Cannon Places Nicki Minaj On His Female Rap Mount Rushmore, Leaves Off Lil Kim

Nick Cannon Nicki Minaj Lil Kim

Kim called Cannon her “best friend” and manager.

Actor/rapper/comedian Nick Cannon once had a close business relationship with Lil Kim. His ex-wife Mariah Carey once clashed with Nicki Minaj. According to Cannon, only one of those female rappers makes his Top 3 rankings of all time.

The Bootleg Kev Podcast recently interviewed Nick Cannon to talk about his upcoming projects and his opinions on Hip Hop. At one point, the conversation turned to the topic of the greatest female rappers in history.

“Let’s not disrespect Nicki. Nicki is a GOAT, whatever her gender is,” said Nick Cannon after briefly suggesting Lil Kim ranks higher than the Queens emcee before backtracking on that take.

Cannon also stated, “The only person, to me, that has the same level of talent and that we should even be comparing [Nicki Minaj] to is Lauryn Hill… or Missy [Elliott]. Those three. That’s the Mount Rushmore.”

In 2021, Lil Kim revealed that Nick Cannon served as her manager. The two entertainers also worked together on VH1’s Miracle Across 125th Street television movie which came out later that same year. Cannon wrote and directed the film.

“Nick Cannon, people don’t even know, he’s one of my best friends. We’ve been best friends for years,” said Lil Kim. The Grammy winner added, “I really did that movie for Nick. It’s part of my next level, Nick is convincing me. You know, he’s my manager?”

R&B/Pop icon Mariah Carey married Nick Cannon in 2008. The couple parted ways in 2014, before finalizing their divorce in 2016. During that period of matrimony, Carey got into a highly publicized feud with fellow American Idol judge, Nicki Minaj, which included alleged threats of violence by Minaj.