Cardi B’s Bodak Yellow Eye and Triadic Closure
Last Friday at Harper Bazaar’s fashion show, Cardi B. threw it down on Nicki Minaj …quite literally. After both attended the gala, Nicki allegedly started questioning and insulting Cardi B.’s maternal abilities (Cardi has recently given birth to her baby girl, Kulture). The two exchanged violence inciting words and attempted to throw hands at each other. The presence of several guards prevented the altercation from escalating, but it certainly did not stop Nicki from giving Cardi B. a black eye and Cardi trying to fight back by throwing her right shoe with gusto at Nicki’s team. We are able to investigate and analyze the female rappers’ relationship with triadic closure.
In class, we learned about triadic closure. Triadic closure is defined when, “…two people in a social network have a friend in common, then there is an increased likelihood that they will become friends themselves at some point in the future [347].” (Easley, Kleinberg). Although this seems contradictory, we have to take a closer look at the history of their relationship. According to the article, Nicki and Cardi have always been distant supporters of each other as lead female rappers trying to stand out in a genre that has little to no female presence. Distant supporters they were, but not friends because they really had no node that could connect them. This changes, however, when Migos dropped his album Culture II early on this year (January 28, 2018). Migos featured both friends, both rappers on the track “Motorsport”. Let’s say Cardi was node A, Migos node B, and Nicki node C. There is an edge between node A and node B and an edge between node B and node C. Given the triadic closure property, an edge is likely to form between node B and node C given that these two nodes share a friend. And for a period of time this year, Cardi and Nicki were friends! According to the article, many fans were speculating who was featured first and who was the feature that was something like an “add on”. Cardi offered full support for Nicki saying that, “[she can’t] imagine how many girls wish they could’ve been on a song with Nicki Minaj.” Nicki also comented by saying she and Quavo wanted Cardi to be on the track with them. Furthermore, the reasons for triadic closure are supported. Node A and C, Cardi and Nicki, not being friends with each other puts stress on Migos, Node B. Which is why he offered to collaborate with both female artists. Cardi and Nicki spending more time together leads to a greater likelihood of establishing trust and, thus becoming friends. At least for a period of time. Not all friendships last and who knows where the future of Cardi and Nicki’s friendship lies. But the fight in the first place could not have happened without having some type of friendship with each other which was formed out of triadic closure .Perhaps another node will come along in the future and provide an opportunity for the two to reestablish trust. But for now, Cardi will have to focus on healing her bodak yellow eye.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8022232/nicki-minaj-cardi-b-timeline-motorsport