Nicki Minaj Claims Credit For Starting Fan Armies & Stan Culture

Nicki Minaj is claiming to be the first rapper to have a fan army. Vogue magazine featured Minaj in an article based on an interview at the Vogue’s Forces of Fashion event in New York City. During the interview, she talked about style, motherhood, music, and especially the influence of her fan army, the Barbz.

"Before I had a record deal, my fans were making a moment for themselves on Twitter," she told the magazine. "I had already given them a name. At the time, there were no rappers naming their fans. Justin Bieber had the Beliebers, and Lady Gaga had the Little Monsters."

She continued, "Now, every single artist gives their fans a name. But it doesn’t matter, because the Barbz are still superior. They are different because what they do, they do it with passion and love. Sometimes people do things, and it’s rooted in revenge or vengeance, and that doesn’t really go anywhere. It doesn't take off. But the Barbz and I really love each other."

Minaj’s Barbz may be one of the biggest fan armies in hip-hop, but Eminem is often seen as the original influence of fan culture. In 2000, he wrote the song "Stan" about an obsessive fan, and the term "stan" became so popular that it was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2019. It means "to be an extremely devoted fan of someone or something."

Other rappers have also built fan armies over time, like Cardi B’s Bardi Gang, Drake’s Team Drizzy, Doja Cat’s Kittenz, Ice Spice’s Munchkins, and Kendrick Lamar’s Kenfolk. Outside of hip-hop, Beyoncé’s Beyhive and Taylor Swift’s Swifties are also well-known fan groups.

Nicki Minaj’s comments sparked debate on X (formerly Twitter), especially among Lil’ Kim fans. They pointed out her 2003 La Bella Mafia album, which includes a song called "Tha Beehive" with the lyric, "Rappers better run and hide ’cause here comes the Beehive."

“Maturing is realizing Nicki Minaj’s number one goal is to take credit for EVERYTHING Lil’ Kim contributed to the game,” one person said. “KIM WAS THE FIRST RAPPER to name their fan base (BEEHIVE) in early 2000s (That’s 20+ years ago!) sorry nicki the fan base names existed BEFORE the internet.”

“She’s so delusional,” added another. “Like Lil Kim aint been callin her Fans The Beehive since La Bella Mafia dropped in 2003.”

It wasn’t just Lil Kim fans who responded. Another person mentioned that Foxy Brown had a fan name as early as 1996. “Foxy Brown calling her fanbase Na Na’s in 1996,” they wrote. “It’s really not that serious, Nicki was talking about the internet era.”