Two of rap’s biggest names are battling, and it’s getting ugly.
Megan Thee Stallion released her single “Hiss” Friday, which caught the attention of Nicki Minaj since she seemed to take a shot at Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty.
“These h–s don’t be mad at Megan, these h–s mad at Megan’s Law / I don’t really know what the problem is, but I guarantee y’all don’t want me to start,” Megan rapped in “Hiss.”
Megan’s Law is a federal law which requires law enforcement to make information about sex offenders available to the public. Minaj seemingly thought that the reference was addressed to her husband, who is a registered sex offender. She took to Instagram live shortly after the release of “Hiss” to respond to Megan’s lyrics.
“I think that the line wasn’t even fully directed at Nicki,” said Olivia Batist, an international relations major. “It could have been towards anybody in the industry since it’s actually kind of common. And I feel like Nicki is kind of ruining her own legacy.”
Minaj released her diss track “Big Foot” Monday, immediately naming and firing insults at Megan Thee Stallion in the first verse.
“Bad b—, she like six foot, I call her Big Foot / The b— fell off, I said, ‘Get up on your good foot,’” Minaj raps.
The title of Minaj’s single, “Big Foot,” apparently references the 2020 incident in which rapper Tory Lanez shot at Megan’s feet and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison. Minaj also alleged in her rap that Megan lied about getting shot, mentioning Megan’s dead mother.
Minaj’s new diss track, accompanied by her Instagram live and many social media posts, has been widely criticized.
“When there’s beef between two women I think that’s kind of how the industry [is] set up, so that only one of them can succeed,” said Shaleez Razavi, a Global Studies and Cognitive Science double major.
“I think that’s common for pretty much any industry to see women competing with each other all just to try and drag themselves up to the top because there’s very limited spots for successful women,” Razavi said.
Megan Thee Stallion hasn’t commented about Minaj. Seemingly unbothered, she continues to promote “Hiss.”