Yesterday, on-the-rise rapper Russ – whose debut album There’s Really a Wolf recently went gold – took a moment to tweet his 1.24 million followers a shout-out to Nicki Minaj:

Minaj took the praise to heart, not only thanking Russ, but using his love as an opportunity to call out sexism in hip-hop:

Minaj isn’t wrong – though female emcees have created some of our favorite tracks, the machismo and misogyny of the industry has kept gifted women from ascending as quickly as their male counterparts, often forcing them to toil longer for lesser rewards (or seek ancillary avenues of exposure). It’s a tough problem to solve, but maybe hearing rap sexism called by its name, by not only Minaj but her male allies, is a start.