
In the five years since she débuted, with the album “Pink Friday_,_” we’ve seen a handful of female hopefuls score modest hits or Internet accolades, but Minaj hadn’t offered such praise to a young peer before. And super forward.” A camera quickly found Dej in her seat, beaming, her own mother at her side. “You’ve been very, very interesting to me.

And a special shout out to Dej Loaf.” Applause swelled from the audience. “To BET, thank you for always supporting women in hip-hop,” she said, and then broke her pageant poise with a furrowed brow and a few slow-rolling, carefully chosen words. She invited her mother up to accept the award with her-an unexpected gesture from the larger-than-life star.

This June, Nicki Minaj took the stage at the 2015 BET Awards to accept her trophy for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist. The music of Dej Loaf, whose “Try Me” is one of the year’s most surreal and unanticipated rap hits, is consistently resonant and surprising.
