All the Times Female Rappers Brought Hard-Hitting Fashion to the Met Gala
The Met Gala, considered the biggest night in fashion by many, has a knack for bringing together a who’s who of the creative industries. You’re just as likely to find the head designer of a major European house mingling with some tech entrepreneur as you are an Oscar winner chatting with a female rapper. It’s the latter sect of women who have brought an energy to the museum steps unlike any other group of attendees.
Of course, Nicki Minaj has led the way among female rappers in terms of most frequent attendance at the ball—the rapper has graced the Metropolitan Museum of Art countless times, year after year, coming up with another jaw-dropping look to wear. Then there’s the likes of Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, and Doja Cat with their elaborate gowns and jewelry, who aren’t to be missed, either. And who could forget Lil’ Kim’s pioneering hot pink Versace ‘fit from 1999?
Below, 22 times female rappers brought hard-hitting fashion to the Met Gala red carpet.
Nicki Minaj interpreted 2024’s theme, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” with this fantastical Marni creation.
Cardi B opted for a more gothic approach that year, wearing a dramatic tulle gown from Windowsen that was difficult for photographers to capture in full.
Doja Cat, wearing a “wet” t-shirt look from Balenciaga, dressed down for the 2024 ball.
It’s sort of astounding that Queen Latifah didn’t make her Met Gala debut until 2024, but she made good use of her debut on the steps in custom Thom Browne.
A Met Gala debut is no easy feat, but Ice Spice had fun during her first time on the museum steps. She wore a fitted Balmain gown with sheer inserts and used a bedazzled film camera as a prop.
Meow! Doja Cat lived up to her name in 2023 with this feline ensemble (inspired by Karl Lagerfeld’s cat, Choupette) from Oscar de la Renta.
Cardi looked like pure “Money” at the 2022 gala thanks to this elaborate chainmail piece from Versace.
Megan Thee Stallion was ready for takeoff at the 2022 gala in her gold foil, wing-adorned Moschino outfit.
The Met Gala celebrated “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” in 2022, and Nicki chose one of the most typically American pieces to accent her Burberry dress: a black baseball hat.
Saweetie tapped New York designer Christian Cowan for her colorful Met Gala look in 2021.
The Met Gala is a very fancy prom, something which Megan lived up to back in 2021.
Cardi’s Met Gala appearances are never short on theatrics, and the rapper’s 2019 outing was perhaps were most theatrical of all. She wore a burgundy Thom Browne dress that featured ten feet of tulle and silk organza.
Nicki and her Prabal Gurung dress embodied The Pinkprint in 2019.
Upon the occasion of her first Met Gala, Cardi teamed up with Moschino’s Jeremy Scott for this heavenly look.
Nicki channeled 2018’s Catholic dress code via a flaming red dress from Oscar de la Renta.
In 2016, she leaned into the technology element of that year’s exhibition in a belted Moschino dress.
“Who’s That Girl?” rapper Eve punked up her Dominique Auxilly leather dress with a studded bracelet in 2013.
Nicki did her own thing that year, wearing a feminine blue dress from Tommy Hilfiger to the gala, which celebrated “Punk: Chaos to Couture”
Azealia Banks’s first and only Met Gala called for a cut-out Alexander Wang look and pin-straight hair.
M.I.A. paired a black bodysuit with a sheer maxi dress in 2010. Both items were Alexander Wang for Gap.
The 2005 ball honored the house of Chanel, but Lil’ Kim worked with American legend Marc Jacobs to create this flower-trimmed look.
A vintage fiend would love to get her hands on this sexy Tom Ford-era Gucci look Eve wore to the 2003 Met Gala.
Lil’ Kim proved she could pull off a monochromatic look like no one in 1999. She wore a custom Versace outfit, with matching hair to boot, consisting of a mink coat and two-piece set.
“Donatella is my girl,” Kim said in 2020. “We’ve loved each other from the moment we first saw each other. At the Met, you’re a designer’s muse [and] she loved the fact that I have fun in her clothes.”
