Despite appearing as best friends on the hit song “Hot Girl Summer” in 2019, Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion would become the biggest feud in hip-hop in 2024. There may be a deep-rooted issue between these two that extends much longer than a month, as evidenced by this beef.
Within one week, these two have become a trending topic, climbed the charts, generated record-breaking numbers, uncovered other women’s hip-hop feuds, and more. Megan and Nicki’s feud is a game-changer that the world has obsessed over since the first preview on January 25.
There are different stories about the feud’s origin and who won between the two. As the final numbers continue to tally, speculations arise on whether Nicki Minaj is still the queen and if Megan’s “HISS” is better than “BigFoot.” How far will this go?
This article examines how these two go from making a #1 hit to feuding to competing for this week’s top hip-hop song.
Who Is Nicki Minaj
In 2007, Nicki Minaj burst out of Jamacia Queens, New York, by way of Trinidad and Tobago, into hip-hop with her salacious street rhymes and debut mixtape, Playtime Is Over. She became a global superstar in 2010 with her record-breaking debut album, Pink Friday, and revered as the “Queen of Rap” by 2014 on her third – and self-proclaimed favorite – album, The Pink Print. Today’s female hip-hop landscape is influenced by Nicki’s accolades, image, and revolution, with superstars like Doja Cat, Ice Spice, and Billie Eillish claiming her star power as a major inspiration.
After a five-year hiatus, her new album, Pink Friday 2, proved her reign continues as it debuted at #1, was the female rap album with the highest number of songs to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 with 17 out of the 22 songs charting, and achieved gold-selling status with over 500,000 units sold two days after it’s release in December 2023. According to Chart Data, the new album sold over one million copies equivalently as of January 2023.
Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s collaboration “Barbie World” was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 2024 Grammys.
Who Is Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion’s debut song, “Like A Stallion,” came out in 2016; however, she wasn’t able to reach mainstream fame until 2018 with her EP Tina Snow, which included “Big Ol’ Freak,” “Hot Girl,” and “Make A Bag.” She rose to prominence in 2019 with her undeniable sex appeal, empowering lyrics, scene-stealing features, and viral songs, including “Hot Girl Summer” and “Savage.”
Megan is best known for her collaborations with Beyonce on the “Saveage Remix,” Dua Lipa on “Sweetest Pie,” and Cardi B on “WAP.” In 2021, she won two Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.
She released two full-length projects, Good News in 2020 and Traumazine in 2022. In 2019, Roc Nation signed a management deal with her.
How The Feud Began
The ongoing feud between Nicki Minaj and rival Cardi B has forced women in hip-hop to choose sides since they made their beef public in an altercation at the 2018 Met Gala. Megan was one of the women affected by the beef as she worked with both artists.
Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion’s relationship was in great shape before August 2020. The two collaborated, hosting Instagram Live sessions and speaking highly of each other in the press.
Nicki Minaj unfollowed Megan Thee Stallion on Instagram in January 2021. In 2023, speculation of issues between Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion arose behind Nicki’s verse on “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” referencing horses synonymous with Megan. Nicky raps, “I don’t f – – k with horses since Christopher Reeves.”
“Red Ruby Da Sleeze” appears to mark the official ignition of the feud. While subliminal, it was the first time that either woman referenced one another in a song.
The feud would cease fire while Megan Thee Stallion endured the Tory Lanez trial in 2022 and 2023.
After years of suspicion, their grudge became public in January with the release of “HISS” and “BigFoot.”
HISS
After previewing the track on January 25, Megan released her anticipated track, “HISS” on January 26. Along with Nicki, Thee Stallion injected venom in other enemies such as Drake, DaBaby, Tory Lanez, and ex-boyfriend Pradison Fontaine. It was Nicki’s husband who received the worst of the track, with Megan rapping about his history of sexual assault.
“These hoes don’t be mad at Megan, these hoes mad at Megan’s Law,” raps Megan in the standout verse.
Megan’s Law is the federal law that makes registered sex offender’s information available to the public. Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, was convicted of attempted rape in 1995 and received a three-year probation sentence in July 2022 after failing to register as a sex offender in California in 2020.
The Megan’s Law line amused her fans but not the family. The family of the law expressed displeasure with Megan’s use of their daughter’s name in profanity.
The song sparked a 72-hour Instagram Live session by Nicki Minaj as she prepared for her response. “HISS” is set to appear on Megan’s third studio album, Corba, coming in 2024.
BigFoot
Nicki released “BigFoot” three days after “HISS.” The producer did not clear the original beat. Minaj clarified that the song was not a “diss track” but a “response track.”
The response addressed Megan’s love life, shooting, mother, and rap skills. Nicki flipped the Megan’s Law line with producers who could sleep with Thee Stallion in exchange for free beats. “Megan’s law. For a free beat, you could hit #MeganRAW,” raps Minaj.
Nicki would refer to Megan’s shooting with the line, “The bitch fell off, I said, ‘Get up on your good foot.”
“BigFoot” is the biggest female rap debut of 2024 on Spotify.
Nicki Minaj’s taunts towards Megan in 2024 centered on the shooting incident and trial. Tory Lanez was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison in April 2023 for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot in 2020.
“BigFoot” is merely the beginning, as Minaj revealed she has more music about Megan on the way. On January 29, Nicki tweeted, “On the next song I delve into all the ppl Desiree allegedly fired for unknown reasons…other things as well. So many ppl were blind-sighted & hurt by her. Allegedly. She’s willing to go broke to try to replace me…? Fix it JESUS. #GoodFoot.”
Taking Sides
Like Cardi and Nicki, people showed allegiance to the feud through social media. Latto, who has also had beef with Nicki in the past, supported Megan in the comments on Instagram with, “U making us proud.” Rubi Rose trolled Nicki Minaj on Instagram in support of Megan.
Sexyy Red would support Nicki Minaj on Instagram with a clip of her twerking while “BigFoot” plays. Ice Spice, who has worked with Nicki on several collaborations, released a new single, “Think U The Shit (Fart),” last week that she revealed to reignite her beef with Latto.
Megan’s ex-best friend Kelsey Harris and Nicki Minaj have plans to release a sequel to “BigFoot,” which is in the works.
https://youtu.be/z-cWfyd-CK8?si=4Ou1zTbCaGbsoFzf
Who Won?
Like all beef in hip-hop, it’s subjective.
Megan Thee Stallion won the battle based on accolades. The diss track followed with the announcement of Megan signing a one-of-a-kind distribution deal with Warner Records. The new agreement was accompanied by Megan announcing she would hit the road this summer on the Hot Girl Summer tour. On top of the song, she was barely edging out “BigFoot” for the #1 spot on the top of the charts, simply because it came out days earlier.
Nicki didn’t use the response track for promotion, and it generated streaming numbers without it. Nicki lashed out at Roc Nation for using “HISS” in advertisements on social media with plans to reveal the bots and fake streams that helped build the song into a chart-topping success.
[Update]: It was announced on Monday, February 5, by Chart Data that Megan Thee Stallion officially earns the biggest U.S. pure sales week for a solo female rap song this decade with “HISS”.
The story is developing …