“She just really jumped out the window,” Nicki Minaj told Hot 97 radio host Angie Martinez, ending any speculation at whom “Roman’s Revenge” was directed towards. Released from her debut album, Pink Friday, Nicki addresses Lil Kim as a has-been, telling her “if you ain’t shitting then get off the pot.”

Selling over 375,000 albums in just its first week, Pink Friday used the release of Lil Kim’s “Black Friday” as a stepping-stone to success. “Roman’s Revenge” was the first punch thrown, turning Nicki’s ongoing battle with Lil Kim into something on wax. (More like Kim’s ongoing war against Nicki.) Kim repeatedly took shots at Nicki during interviews, saying Nicki’s eccentric style is nothing but a cheap knock off of what Lil Kim earned her fame from.

And then came “Black Friday.”

Lil Kim responded to Nicki’s lyrical slay with one of her own. Rapping over Pharoahe Monch’s “Simon Says,” Kim goes at Nicki in typical Kim Fashion: hard but not hard enough. With a few witty lines, “Black Friday” holds a dim light to “Roman’s Revenge.” Kim raps for over five minutes at what sounds more like a first jab than a response to shut her opponent up.

Props go to Kim for her few hot lines. “Aight you Lil Kim clone clown,” “Benjamin’s my daddy you Young Money bastards,”…“Come on, Queens ain’t showing you no love / I was there the other night poppin’ bottles with the thugs,”…“I mothered you hoes, I should claim you on my income tax,”… and finally “You’re not hot, you’re a burning match.” Further more, production wise, the inclusion of Nicki’s “You see right through me/ How do you do that ish” right after Kim’s “I see right through you, you’re whole shit is made of glass” was brilliant.

But the props stop there.

“I put hands on this bitch like a spa massage.” Isn’t a massage supposed to be relaxing? For someone who goes at Drake and Young Money, she delivers a few young money styled lines. Now who’s the swagger jacker?
The saying stands, if you’re going to do the same thing, do it better.

Kim on Black Friday: “Go stick your head in a tornado, brainstorm/ I drop bombs, Flex, Napalm.”

Nicki on Roman’s Revenge: “You at a stand, still, mannequin / You wanna sleep on me? Overnight? / I’m the motherfuckin’ boss, overwrite / And when I pull up, vroom, motorbike / Now all my n***** gettin’ bucked, overbite.”

The record is a smoke screen lined with a few stingers. Its nothing that would debilitate Nicki’s career and nothing that owes a response from Nicki either. Making only one reference to her pink kitty, Lil Kim would have been better off using that as a lyrical weapon towards Nicki as Kim is better known for her sexual lyrics than Nicki is.

Biggie groomed Kim, but in similar fashion, Lil Wayne did the same for Nicki. Nicki only released three mixtapes before Lil Wayne adopted her and her career shot towards fame. The difference between the two is that once Nicki broke away from the underground circuit, she took to Young Money fashion and never stopped making music. She can be heard featuring on a variety of artist’s records such as Sean Kingston, Trey Songz, Gyptian, Usher, Rihanna, and Mariah Carey. After the death of Biggie Smalls, Kim’s mentor, Lil Kim had mild success but rarely ventured out of Hip-Hop to gain any further success.

With radio shows and Internet sites a buzz with Nicki vs. Kim discussions, Hip-Hop fans are taking sides quickly. Kim’s loyal fans are supporting her valiant effort to shut the newcomer down holding strong against the band of Barbie’s standing behind Nicki in her efforts to dismiss the legend who’s attempting a comeback.

Beef battles are nothing new to Hip-Hop. Roxanne Shanté, at just 14, made her career off of a diss record against UTFO in the mid 1980’s. But round one to this 2010 catfight goes to Nicki. “Black Friday” was more like an after school playground fight than a Pay Per View Heavyweight match.

For someone who claims that she’s “in the legendary lane,” Lil Kim should have kept to her comments out of interviews and addressed them straight to Nicki. The better choice would have been to let her legacy speak for itself instead of going at against the only female left standing in Hip-Hop.

Hip-Hop is constantly evolving. When Lil Kim was at the highest part in her career, female emcees could be found throughout mainstream music. Nicki Minaj is the face of female Hip-Hop right now. For that reason alone, I support Nicki in keeping females relevant. But if Nicki claims she’s re-opening the doors of Hip-Hop for other female rappers, then why weren’t there any female emcees featured on Pink Friday?

So who do you think won the first round?