The feud between rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj that has blown up over the past few weeks has been inescapable on social media. Diss tracks were dropped, mothers were brought up, and friendships were destroyed.
The inciting incident was the release of “Hiss” by Megan Thee Stallion on January 26th with the line, “[They] don’t be mad at Megan, [they] mad at Megan’s Law.” Minaj believed it to be a direct hit at her husband Kenneth Petty or even her brother Jelani Maraj, both convicted and registered sex offenders. Megan’s Law is a federal law stating that all information regarding registered sex offenders must be made available to the public. Minaj took it upon herself to defend her husband, and perhaps brother, the best way that she knew how: tweets and diss tracks.
Megan and Minaj have a history that goes further than this drama. The rappers previously collaborated on the 2019 hit “Hot Girl Summer” and were seemingly on good terms. However, somewhere along the way things went sour, and many speculate this is because Megan collaborated with Cardi B on “WAP”. Such a partnership may have angered Minaj due to Cardi and Minaj notoriously not getting along. While the exact cause for the ending of Megan and Minaj’s friendship is unknown, some fans speculate that Minaj took a few digs at Megan on her 2023 album Pink Friday 2 regarding rapper Tory Lanez shooting Megan in the foot in 2020.
This isn’t the first time that Minaj has gotten personal with disses in her songs. Following the release of “Hiss,” Minaj took to Instagram live to air out her issues with Megan and hint at a diss track targeting the rapper. Megan responded with an Instagram story of her clearly laughing about the situation and continued to deny that “Hiss” was in relation to any one person in particular. While Megan remained unbothered by the drama, Minaj dropped a controversial track titled “Big Foot” on January 29th. In the song, Minaj does not shy away from bringing up Megan’s mother who passed away due to brain cancer in 2019. The lyric, “swearing on your dead mother when you lie,” is repeated over and over throughout Minaj’s retaliatory song, as well as references to the Tory Lanez shooting, claiming Megan lied about the incident. Minaj then took to X (formally known as Twitter) to reiterate the insults included in “Big Foot” and announce five more diss tracks all targeted at Megan that could be released at any time.
A main issue many have identified with the feud is the fact that, while the lyrics in Megan’s song “Hiss” could be applied to a multitude of people and situations in the rap industry, Minaj’s diss track is clearly very personal. The contrast between the two songs calls into question whether Minaj’s frustration is well earned, or if she is blowing a very cleverly crafted line extremely out of proportion.
This article also appears in our February 2024 print edition.
