CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses sexual assault.
The tumultuous feud between rappers Nicki Minaj and Megan Pete — famously known by her stage name Megan Thee Stallion — has sent the internet into a frenzy.
It’s been a difficult — difficult — couple of days for Barbz, the title used to identify fans of Nicki Minaj. The “Monster” rapper who has since been reduced to her latest, umm, attempt at a track, “Big Foot” has caused a stir online after she took offence to Megan Thee Stallion’s latest song “HISS”, which was released late last week.
Although the pair seemed to be feuding since 2021 — despite birthing one of the best baddie gal anthems ever, “Hot Girl Summer” — things have reached a boiling point between the pair due to Megan’s new track.
Allegations were made. Insults were thrown. New TikTok trends began. It’s like that cafeteria scene in Mean Girls where all the girls are fighting over the Burn Book. It’s pure anarchy in the rapper realms of the internet.
So if you’re not caught up on the fuckery, don’t fret.
Here’s everything you need to know to understand the recent beef between Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion.
January 26, 2024: Megan Thee Stallion Drops “HISS”.
As described by TIME, “HISS” by Megan Thee Stallion can be identified as a “warning for her haters”. Through her gritty lyrics, Megan Thee Stallion utilises her pen to take down folks who have spread lies about her behind her back throughout her career.
It’s passionate, it’s raw and it fucking bops. Also the visuals for the music video? Ahhh-mazing.
As Megan Thee Stallion continued to gain praise for the track, it was one specific bar that seemed to strike a chord with Nicki Minaj.
That being: “These hoes don’t be mad at Megan these hoes mad at Megan’s Law.”
You see, the Megan’s Law line could be a reference to Megan’s Law, which was put in place after the rape and murder of seven-year-old Megan Kanka, who was killed by a registered sex offender who moved across the road from her house.
Following the tragedy, Megan’s law was put in place, which makes authorities notify the public about sex offenders in the area. As per Meganslaw.com, all states in the US have a form of of the Law, which allows the public to access the information of sex offenders.
Of course, in the song “HISS”, Megan does not name any names however, some people interpreted it as a diss towards Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty, who was ordered to serve house arrest after being convicted of sexual assault, and her brother Jelani Maraj, who is currently serving 25 years to life in prison for predatory assault.
January, 26 2024: Nicki Minaj responds to “HISS” through a variety of social media outlets.
Boy oh boy. Hang on tight because this one is going to be quite a wild ride. Following the release of “HISS”, Nicki took to a variety of social media platforms to respond to her fellow artist.
In a variety of live streams and posts to X (formerly known as Twitter), Nicki claimed Megan “paid bots” to promote her work, spoke about her dead mother and the 2020 incident where Megan was shot in the foot by Tory Lanez, who received a 10-year sentence for the shooting.
Nicki also labelled Megan a “disgusting serpant [sic]”, “wicked woman” and “Big Foot”. She also hinted that the beef began way before Megan collaborated with Cardi B on “WAP”.
January 2024: Barbz allegedly dox TikToker Bela Delgaldo for their rant about Nicki Minaj’s reaction to “HISS”.
Amongst all the hot mess, Bela Degaldo (@belatown) took to TikTok to post a scathing rant about Nicki Minaj, which has now been deleted. Following the rant, Bela posted an update claiming that fans of Nicki were allegedly contacting their family members, sending things to their family and attempting to dox them.
Delgado has not posted another video since the update regarding the Barbz.
January 28, 2024: Ben Shapiro and Nicki Minaj seem to buddy up in the middle of the hullabaloo.
Not extremely important to the narrative but ughhhhhhhhh. I’ll just leave you with this tweet.
January 28, 2024: Nicki Minaj announces “Big Foot” as a response to “HISS” and claims she has more tracks ready for Megan Thee Stallion.
In an X post, Nicki revealed she would be releasing a track titled “Big Foot” in response to Megan’s “HISS”. Keep in mind that Megan hasn’t responded to Nicki’s allegations.
“After the 1st one drop, if dat pussy ass hoe so much as BREATHE wrong ima empty da clip,” she wrote.
“If that pussy ass hoe deny 1THING I say, I’m posting every fkn receipt known to man. 5. Yes you heard me! Did 5 extra songs. We’ve been waiting on u HO.”
January 29, 2024: Nicki Minaj drops “Big Foot” and in terms of reactions from the public, it seems to be a big flop.
The day finally came. “Big Foot” by Nicki Minaj has arrived and the crowd goes… lukewarm.
In my opinion — and strictly my opinion — the song felt like a collection of what she has said already. It didn’t feel like new material or new information about why she’s so angry with Megan Thee Stallion.
Despite the negative reactions to the song, which was made evident through the endless amount of sarcastic comments on its YouTube video, Nicki Minaj posted a carousel to Instagram claiming “Big Foot” broke some records including the “biggest solo female rap debut on YouTube” and “highest debut by a female rapper with a solo song in the history of US Apple Music”.
The aftermath
As of writing, Megan Thee Stallion has NOT responded to allegations made by Nicki Minaj. However, the fallout of the beef has spilled onto their fanbases, with some Barbz throwing their Nicki Minaj American flags away in solidarity with Megan.
For my two cents, Nicki has made quirky tracks before, such as “Roman’s Revenge” and “Stupid Hoe”, but the difference between those two tracks and “Big Foot” is that they were good. The only memorable thing about the 2024 track was how bad it was.
I feel like the brief friendship Nicki and Megan shared in the early 2020s will never return after reaching this boiling point. But I wish it could be fixed. However, I am glad that Nicki is being grilled for her husband and brother’s actions.
It’s only a matter of time until Megan chooses to respond to Nicki. The ball is in her court.
Image source: Getty Images / Christopher Polk & Paul Morigi
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