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By Nell Geraets and Thomas Mitchell
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If rap were a queendom, the leading monarchs would be Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion. Minaj has more number one albums than any other female rapper, while Megan has three coveted Grammy Awards under her belt. In 2019, the two powerhouses came together for Hot Girl Summer, seemingly confirming their shared reign.
But in the past week, there has been discord in the queendom of hip-hop, with both Minaj and Megan releasing competing diss tracks and throwing down on social media.
So, what exactly sparked this showdown, and how intense have things gotten? Our culture reporters Thomas Mitchell and Nell Geraets are here to explain.
Thomas Mitchell: We’re only one month into 2024, and already we have our first rap beef. Hip-hop really does move faster than other genres on the beef front.
Nell Geraets: It certainly does. Quick lyrics, quick beef.
T: OK, so as far as I can tell, Megan (Miss Stallion? M.T. Stallion?) fired the first shot?
N: That’s a big maybe at this point.
Megan released HISS last week, a punchy track that quickly slithered its way into the hearts of her fans, reaching the top of Apple Music charts in just a couple of days. Essentially, it’s all about taking Megan’s critics down a peg or two – calling out those who have used her name to get ahead. It’s pretty unapologetic, and it pokes fun at heavy-hitters like Mariah Carey and Kris Jenner.
But of all the spicy jabs, everyone seems to be talking about this line: “These hoes don’t be mad at Megan, these hoes mad at Megan’s Law.”
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Megan doesn’t actually say Minaj’s name, and she has since neither confirmed nor denied whether it has anything to do with her fellow rapper. But Minaj assumed it was a direct dig at herself.
T: It’s not often you see federal laws incorporated into lyrics. What is Megan’s Law and what does that have to do with Nicki?
N: Rappers are known to get creative with their lyrics, but digging into the jurisprudence? Diss or not, it’s impressive.
The law in question requires police in the US to share information with the public about convicted and registered sex offenders. It derives its name from the case of Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old who was raped and killed by their neighbour, a convicted child molester, in 1994.
Minaj and her fans became convinced it was a direct insult aimed at her husband, Kenneth Petty – a registered sex offender who was convicted of attempted rape in 1995 and served four years behind bars. He was then put on probation in 2022 after failing to register as a sex offender in California.
Believe it or not though, it gets even messier. Minaj also pointed out Megan’s lyrics, “I can never be judged by a bitch that was dancin’, makin’ R. Kelly go viral”. So, suddenly R. Kelly joined the mix.
T: I thought we had all agreed that we wouldn’t speak about R. Kelly any more. Alas, he, too, features in this feud.
N: Clearly, Megan wasn’t given that memo. Admittedly, the connection between Minaj and these lyrics is slightly more tenuous, but some fans have said on social media they refer to Minaj’s 2012 song Up in Flames. In that track, she raps “even R. Kelly couldn’t touch the kid.”
Then again, others suspect it refers to Rihanna, so who really knows? It’s all rather vague, but Megan didn’t exactly help her case when she joined The Breakfast Club radio program the day HISS dropped.
“When a snake feel like you’ve been playing and like doing a whole bunch of swaying, it’s basically telling you to back off. I hear you, I see you, get up off me now. Basically, that’s what it means,” she said on-air. “I’m saying, a hit dog gon’ holler. That’s it. Whoever feel it, feel it.”
Safe to say, Nicki didn’t like that.
T: Now Nicki Minaj is famously relaxed, so I am shocked she decided to return serve with her own diss track, Big Foot. I assume this is named after the large and hairy human-like mythical creature alleged by some to inhabit forests in North America?
N: That would be the logical answer, yes. But we’re so far past the point of logic here. The “large and hairy human-like mythical creature” referred to in this song is Megan. That’s according to Minaj, not myself… Just to be clear.
Released just four days after HISS, the name alone was enough to have people calling shade.
T: It’s probably not helpful to admit this, but the lyric “I said get up on your good foot,” is quite funny. Does Megan Thee Stallion only have one good foot?
Nell: Petty or not, some of the lines hit. This particular line refers to the time Megan was shot in the foot by Canadian rapper Tory Lanez in 2020 after a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills house. Lanez was eventually found guilty and, in August 2023, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
But Minaj doesn’t just poke fun at Megan’s injured foot, which, as far as we know, has recovered well since surgery and physical therapy. At one point, Minaj raps, “F--- you get shot with no scar?“, clearly suggesting Megan lied about the shooting.
A dig at her height would be relatively understandable. But accusing her of lying about a traumatic incident that has already been dealt with in court? That seems a bit below the belt. And, get ready for it because Minaj didn’t stop there.
She proceeded to accuse Megan of cheating on her best friend’s partner and of using ghostwriters for her lyrics. Perhaps worst of all, Minaj mentions Megan’s mother, Holly Thomas, who died of brain cancer in 2019.
“Swearin’ on your dead mother when you lie,” she rapped. Here I was thinking mothers were off-limits…
In case that wasn’t enough, Minaj threatened Megan with more diss tracks down the line, closing the song with: “You know I got a lot of tea/ I went easy on you … I don’t think you want the next instalment of this song.”
She later confirmed this on X (formerly Twitter), saying she has already written five more tracks, all of which she’d release if Megan so much as “breathed wrong”.
T: Speaking of X, there are whispers that Minaj jumped on X and shared some foot pics? I promised myself I would stop talking about feet so much this year, but here I am.
N:Who knew foot feuds could get so heated? Considering all the talk of feet in her diss track, it’s pretty safe to assume she posted the pic to either show that:
a) Unlike Megan, her feet have nothing to hide; or b) It was meant to look like a picture of Megan with no scar, thereby “confirming” Minaj’s lying theory. Either way, it’s confusing and just a bit icky.
T: Correct me if I am wrong, but she has six toes in that photo, no?
N: Uh yeah, I was hoping we’d let that slide. But yes, this is not your average foot pic. It either has six toes, or five toes and a little nubbin. I’m not sure and I’m ok with never knowing.
T: So, let’s sum this up: diss tracks, feets pics, insulted mothers. Where could they possibly go from here?
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N: So far, Megan hasn’t directly responded to Big Foot, though she did post a picture of herself laughing on her Instagram Story after Minaj posted a snippet of the song.
Other people have chimed in though, like Charlamagne tha God, one of the hosts of The Breakfast Club. He told his radio audience he believed Minaj had gone too far in Big Foot.
“I know we say all is fair in love and rap battles, but man, hearing Nicki keep talking about Megan’s deceased mother, that ain’t it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vogue’s entertainment director, Sergio Kletnoy, commented on Minaj’s Instagram Live over the weekend. “Not ‘fragment foot’ lol not even a whole foot?” he wrote, alongside a few foot emojis. He later issued an apology on Instagram, saying he loves both rappers.
No matter which side you land on, this feud has been messy. I just hope there are no retaliatory feet pics on the horizon.
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