Rappers Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion have been feuding the past few weeks, dissing one another through harsh lyrics and diss tracks. This was especially evident with the release of Megan’s single HISS, in which she clearly addressed many of her grievances, which included many rappers and artists being called out. These songs have pointed out each other’s family, Minaj’s husband, and even brought up Megan’s past relationships. This Nicki and Megan drama heated up with Megan’s new song HISS and Minaj’s response diss track, BigFoot.
HISS blew up on social media for a lyric that hit Minaj like a boulder. The now-famous lyric states “don’t be mad at Megan,” but instead Minaj should be “mad at Megan’s Law.” Megan’s Law is a child protection law that requires local communities to be formally warned when about sex offenders in their area, to help protect children and their families. Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, is a registered sex offender in the State of California for the attempted rape of a then-16-year-old girl in 1996. Minaj has spoken about the sensitive topics often brought up about her husband on the Nicki Minaj Queen Radio show, stating her frustration with how frequently Petty’s past convictions are mentioned. While Minaj defending her husband’s past isn’t right, it is somewhat understandable that she is in love and blindsided by this fact. Even though Minaj’s choice of marriage is seriously questionable, it was quite random of Megan to start drama when Nicki’s past insults were harmless.
While HISS has been the most recent development, Minaj and Megan’s feud has lasted since 2021 when Minaj accused Megan of encouraging her to get an abortion, driving an obvious wedge in their friendship.
This also wasn’t their first hidden diss. Minaj’s 2023 hit song Red Ruby Da Sleaze, called Megan out, stating that she doesn’t “mess with horses,” alluding to a stallion, just as in Megan’s stage name. However, this was completely harmless compared to the hidden messages behind Megan’s lyrics.
Upset by Megan’s new lyrics, Minaj decided to respond to Megan with her own song. Minaj’s new song, BigFoot has caused much controversy about its lyrics, however, her past music history has been more popular and successful than Megan’s. A fierce line in BigFoot said Megan “fell off,” and then said, “Get up on your good foot,” mocking when in July of 2020, Megan was shot in the foot by Tory Lanez, at Kylie Jenner’s pool party. Minaj mocking Megan was somewhat of a parallel to Megan mocking Minaj in HISS. Minaj had a good line, but Megan made more of a clear and direct point in her lyrics. BigFoot is already named the highest debut of a solo female rapper in all of Apple Music history and set a record on YouTube with 2.5 million views on its first day of being posted. While Minaj’s new single was a success, Megan’s song has done significantly better. HISS reached number one on US Spotify and iTunes and on day four of being on Spotify, streams of HISS went up 52% with a total of 1.6 million streams.
Minaj has always been a popular singer, so even though Megan’s line was clever, Minaj had the right to release her diss track the way she did. Was it the best lyrics or her new song? No, but to understand Minaj’s point of view, on an Instagram Live addressing the drama, Minaj said HISS made her feel her family was targeted. Megan should’ve taken a breath to calm down before quickly coming out with HISS, especially after Minaj had a big accomplishment with her new great album, Pink Friday 2, which was already going viral. Megan possibly saw this as a threat, and when she had released HISS, she decided to bring a different and negative attention to Minaj.
No matter what, both Minaj and Megan are great artists and are both too good to be fighting. When these artists began to fight it led to a divide of two incredibly talented women and a sad knowing that there would never be a collab or even a friendship. They both deserve to live their own lives in the way that pleases them. While Minaj’s life choices are too controversial for anybody to ignore, Megan seems too stubborn to let past feuds go. Both Minaj and Megan should get to stay on top and express their music, however, Megan said what many were too scared to admit to Minaj. Minaj and Megan without a doubt, had many augments over the past few years, but the two artists should truly move on and look towards other things in life besides past grudges.
