If there’s one thing Nicki Minaj is gonna do, it’s have just batshit beef. The girl knows how to make a banger, but she her “hot takes” need not be heeded.
The latest drama stems from Megan Thee Stallion’s bop “Hiss,” which dropped on January 25th. In it, Megan raps about her relationship to the media and the way she’s so often invoked for clickbait. She also raps about her own successes and her meteoric rise.
Notably, Nicki herself was a part of Megan’s rise to stardom. Their song “Hot Girl Summer,” DEFINED late summer 2019. And, despite dropping in August and the video dropping in September, it was the song of that summer. Rap fans had known Megan for a little bit, but this song really brought her into the mainstream.
Some people debate whether Megan’s later collaborations with Cardi B may have contributed to some sort of behind-the-scenes fallout with Nicki, who also has famous beef with Cardi. But that is unconfirmed.
So where exactly does the drama start? Well. In “Hiss,” Megan mentions Megan’s Law, which requires law enforcement to make info on registered sex offenders readily available to the public, stating “These hoes don’t be mad at Megan/these hoes mad at Megan’s Law.”
Megan’s song makes absolutely no mention of Nicki Minaj or of her husband, Kenneth Petty, who was convicted of rape as a teen. Yet fans and Nicki alike automatically assumed the references to Megan’s Law were shade toward Nicki Minaj and Petty.
Nicki has always been a fierce defender of her sex offender husband. This time was no different. As soon as his name was thrown out there, she took to Instagram Live and previewed a response diss trick on Megan, which included references to Tory Lanez shooting Megan in the foot back in 2020 [if you don’t remember, Lanez is serving a 10-year sentence for the incident.]
This isn’t Nicki’s first time invoking Lanez in her music. On Pink Friday 2 (critical flop), she rapped, “stay in your Lanez, cuz I ain’t Iggy,” on “FTCU.” This is a clear reference to Iggy Azalea’s letter in support of Lanez used during his trial. Some people thought it may have also been some sort of subtle dig at Megan, but to me it doesn’t really track with the rest of the song.
Regardless, Nicki’s then-previewed, now released “Big Foot,” is quite obviously about Megan. She states, “Bad bitch she like 6 foot/I call her Big Foot/the bitch fell off/I said get up on your good foot,” which is poorly structured and not clever. Rhyming foot with foot with foot…oh how the mighty have fallen. The track ends with the threat of more music from Nicki on the topic.
Nicki has addressed this whole situation on the Breakfast Club, referring to Petty’s rape charges as “30-year-old tea from when [he] as a child.” She then said, “You bringing up 30-year-old tea cause no man will ever fucking love you, and lying on your dead mother.”
Nicki has since put out a shortened version of “Big Foot,” dubbed the “rap version.” Apparently people asked for it. I, like many, are dubious of that.
While Nicki is planning to release another track dissing Megan, Megan hasn’t even acknowledged the “beef.” And with that alone, she’s won. Thinking you can take on Miss Tina Snow…to quote your own critically maligned song, “you’s a stupid hoe.”