Nicki Minaj & Megan Thee Stallion Beef: A Timeline

Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj weren’t always at each other’s necks. In fact, there was a time, only back in 2020, where their dynamic was much different, and significantly less antagonistic. Megan once considered herself a fan of Minaj, in awe of the fact that she was able to land a feature from the First Lady of Young Money on what became, to that point, her biggest song so far. Nicki showed Megan love for her skill on the mic and intelligence away from music, as she worked on finishing her college degree while taking care of a budding rap career. 

Unfortunately, their relationship soured almost as quickly as it began. Save for a few days in January 2024, they have largely been on opposite ends of a cold war for the last several years. The quick rise and fall put an end to another promising partnership, but what really happened? How did one of Megan’s biggest idols become one of her leading rivals? Let’s revisit, starting from the beginning.

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In May 2019, following a couple of EPs and the 2018 single “Big Ole Freak,” her breakout moment and the single that got her on the radio, Megan Thee Stallion released Fever. The commercial mixtape debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 and spawned her first top 40 single, “Cash S**t” with DaBaby. After that breakthrough, she enlisted Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign’s help for the track “Hot Girl Summer,” which dropped on August 9.

Prior to the song dropping, Megan and Nicki got on Instagram Live together to chat. The two of them praised each other, and Megan revealed that she’d been a Barb since 2008. After the livestream ended, Minaj admitted on X that there were originally no plans for her to appear on “Hot Girl Summer.” However, once she heard the song, she started writing to it the same night. The song proved to be a success for both parties, reaching #11 on the Hot 100 and going double platinum, becoming Megan’s first major hit single. It also began what turned out to be a short-lived alliance between the pair, with it being the lone song they’d release before things went left.

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In August 2020, Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B came out with “WAP,” a viral moment that went on to become one of the most popular duets in hip-hop history. Of course, the feud between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B is well-documented. Their sneak disses culminated in Cardi trying to fight Minaj during New York Fashion Week in September 2018. Their beef did not end on that night, with the two continuing to take aim at each other nearly seven years later. “WAP,” a collaboration between Minaj’s most recent endorsee and a woman Minaj almost fought, is what fans might call “messy.” 

Despite that, Nicki praised Megan in a Variety cover story released just a couple of days before the song came out. “One of my favorite things about Meg is her desire to further her education. It’s so important for women to feel inspired to achieve goals outside of social media, where the focus is usually placed on their bodies or who they’re dating at the time,” Minaj told the magazine at the time. “WAP” went on to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for four weeks, and has since gone platinum eight times over.

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In November, Megan sat down for an interview with WGCI in Chicago. She was asked if she spoke to Minaj before agreeing to work with one of her fiercest rivals. “I didn’t feel like I had to call her first. I mean, because at the end of the day, I’m still an artist and I should be free to work with whoever I want to work with. My personal relationship with anybody doesn’t affect what I choose to do as an artist,” she told The Morning Show. “I feel like women, we really do know how to coexist and we really do know how to not be catty, so despite popular Internet opinion, that’s really not the case.” At the time, it seemed like the two were still on good terms. In hindsight, it marked the beginning of the end.

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In January 2021, Nicki Minaj went on a mass unfollowing spree on Instagram, completely clearing her list for a period. Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, and Ariana Grande were among the first names Minaj removed. While she eventually refollowed Grande, the other two were not so lucky. Minaj’s appearance on the remix to Doja Cat’s “Say So” in 2019 helped Minaj capture her previously elusive number-one song, but it looked as if that relationship was over. 

It also quickly became clear that Minaj and Megan’s relationship was over as well. In May, Minaj re-released Beam Me Up Scotty, the 2009 mixtape that helped establish her core fanbase. Because sshe couldn't clear some songs from the original tape, she added new ones in their place. Those new tracks included “Seeing Green” with Drake and Lil Wayne. "Seeing Green" marked the first time the trio appeared on a song together since 2017. On the track, Minaj seems to throw shade in Megan’s direction. “These b***hes thirsty, I can see why they alcoholics,” she says about halfway through the verse. Megan has faced criticism for what some have perceived as excessive drinking habits, whether at parties or on Instagram Live. That line, combined with Megan’s history and the mutual unfollowing, effectively confirmed yet another dissolution of a friendship between Minaj and a collaborator/fan.

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Following the release of her fourth album, Queen, Nicki Minaj used to occasionally host a show called Queen Radio. The show started as an Apple Music venture for Minaj to play some of her favorite songs. But when it became an independent venture in 2020, it evolved into an outlet for her to periodically tell stories about drama in her life. She also used it to take jabs at rappers she had issues with. 

During the September 11, 2022 edition, which she dubbed the “Tea Party,” Minaj told a story about how in 2020, Megan Thee Stallion allegedly told her to get an abortion. According to her, Megan tried to force her to drink when she was pregnant. She refused, explaining her potential pregnancy to Megan. Megan reportedly told Minaj she could “go to the clinic” in response. Minaj eventually gave birth to her first son in September of that year.

“Imagine telling someone you didn’t want to drink because you were, at the time, possibly pregnant. Because you were actively having a baby,” Nicki said on the broadcast. “Imagine if that person said, ‘Oh girl, you can go to the clinic [...] Imagine posting photos that you are pregnant and the person doesn’t even like it or say congratulations. But then when you post that Beyoncé sent you flowers congratulating you, the person then tried to send you flowers thinking that, ‘Oh, I can use this opportunity,’ as she does everyone else. ‘She’ll post the flowers.’ I didn’t even let them s***s in the motherf***ing house.” 

When a fan brought Minaj’s comments to Megan’s attention, she emphatically denied the rumors, branding the story a “LIE.”

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Though Nicki Minaj released the hit single “Super Freaky Girl” in December 2022, coming out with “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” in March of the following year felt like the formal start of the rollout for Pink Friday 2, her long-awaited comeback five years after the release of Queen. “Super Freaky Girl” was a fun, spiritual successor to “Anaconda.” At the same time, it did not feel like a lyrical return to form. However, "Red Ruby Da Sleeze" certainly does.

Over a sample of Lumidee’s “Never Leave You,” Minaj is as spiteful as ever. She delivers multiple lines that fans could reasonably only read as jabs at Megan. “Seven hundred on them horses when we fixin’ to leave / But I don’t f**k with horses since Christopher Reeves” she raps, referencing both the equestrian incident that led to the actor’s paralysis and Megan, as a stallion is another word for a horse. On the second verse, she raps “you f***ing bozo, that .40 cal’ll make ‘em dance like a go-go.” 

When Tory Lanez shot Megan Thee Stallion, he reportedly said “dance, b***h, dance” as he fired shots. That remark would also not be the last time that Minaj used the shooting as a punchline. Whatever positive mentor/mentee relationship Megan and Minaj had at one point completely disintegrated in under four years.

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On December 8, Nicki Minaj released Pink Friday 2, the sequel to her hugely successful debut album. On the track “FTCU,” she seemingly took another dig at Megan. “Stay in your Tory lane, b***h, I’m not Iggy,” she rapped on the song’s second verse. The line refers to a letter that Iggy Azalea reportedly wrote in support of Tory Lanez shortly before his sentencing. Some fans read it as a diss in Azalea’s direction. Minaj’s fans argued that she actually meant for the lyric to target Megan. In 2019, Megan and Azalea had a brief misunderstanding that some interpreted as a feud. The implication with the bar was that Minaj was not as forgiving as Azalea. The “Barbz” were seemingly vindicated in their assessment of the lyric. Moreover, the war of thinly veiled statements and subliminals finally reached the tipping point heading into the new year.

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In October 2023, 1501 Certified Entertainment announced that they reached a settlement with Megan Thee Stallion. The settlement ended a years-long legal battle and finally granted her independence. Shortly after, she announced her third album, Megan, with the lead single “Cobra.” On January 22, 2024, she announced that “Hiss,” the album’s second single, would drop four days later. There’s no easy way to describe the impact that “Hiss” landed with. If “Cobra” was Mike Tyson’s left jab, “Hiss” was Tyson’s right hook.

In the first verse, Megan raps “these h**s don’t be mad at Megan, these h**s mad at Megan’s Law.” Megan’s Law requires authorities to release information about registered sex offenders to the public. Nicki Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, has been a registered sex offender for decades, following an attempted rape conviction in 1995. He spent four years behind bars for the crime. Minaj’s brother Jelani is also a sex offender, after being convicted of predatory sexual assault of a child younger than 13 years old. With that in mind, it’s not difficult to see why both Minaj and hip-hop fans believed Megan directed the line at her.

It is a hard-hitting diss track that features Megan taking on several of her biggest enemies with her urgent, relentless flow, over a brooding beat. Fans later credited her for kicking off 2024 with the ruthless energy that eventually contributed to Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s battle, especially after her own disses in the former’s direction on the track. Overall, fans greeted "Hiss" with considerable acclaim thanks to Megan's performance and focus. Its critical success reflected on the charts with another number-one single for her, the first solo one of her career.

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Following “Hiss,” Minaj went straight to Instagram to air some of her grievances with Megan Thee Stallion. “You bringing up 30-year-old tea from when this man was a 15-year-old child. You bringing up 30-year-old tea 'cause no man will ever f***ing love you, and lying on your dead mother,” she said.

She further discussed the matter during a conversation Friday on Stationhead, a community-based radio app. “You let everyone be thrown under the bus,” Minaj said. “You let DaBaby be thrown under the bus, Tory, your best friend, your mom [...] Go conjure up your mother and apologize. That’s disgusting.” She also made several posts on X, calling Megan a “disgusting serpant.” She later posted, “Megan’s Law. For a free beat you could hit #Meganraw,” a remark that she later included in her “Hiss” response.

“Told me to drink & go to the clinic if I was pregnant,” Minaj added on Twitter. “All b/c I wouldn’t let your funky butt pour liquor down my throat? B!ch think she a bully cuz she get a Roc Nation brunch every year.” Minaj continued in another tweet that she “does not condone ‘bullying,’” but called Megan a “pathological & manipulative liar.” She also made an unsubstantiated claim that Megan employs ghostwriters.

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The same night “Hiss” dropped, Nicki Minaj went live on Instagram to play a snippet of a diss track of her own. Three days later, she dropped “Big Foot.” It immediately entered the pantheon of poor diss track responses, seated next to Jay-Z’s “Supa Ugly” and Meek Mill’s “Wanna Know.” Minaj once again called Megan an alcoholic, saying she “drinks Henny through a straw.” She also reiterated her belief that Megan lied about being shot. 

“Bad b***h, she like six foot, I call her Bigfoot/ The b***h fell off, I said, 'Get up on your good foot,” she raps early in the lone verse. “You was lyin’ to the queen, then you went lyin’ to the King, Gayle,” she says later on, referring to the interview King did with Megan following the shooting. Megan did post a photo of her injury. However, both Minaj and many of her fans believe the injury came from broken glass. “F**k you get shot with no scar?” Minaj questions. 

She also suggested that Megan slept with Tory Lanez, who ex-friend Kelsey Harris previously dated, before the shooting. Minaj said that Megan had an “evil spirit,” and again asserted that she “lied on her dead mother.” After the verse, Minaj delivers a bizarre two-minute rant to close the track. It sounds much more like an ASMR clip than an attempt at hitting a bitter rival where it hurts. She makes vague threats about having “a lotta tea,” shouts out her fans, and implies that “Big Foot” had a second part.

Minaj later revealed that she had four more songs ready to drop after “Big Foot.” Does that sound familiar? None of the other four songs saw the light of day. After a strong debut on the streaming charts, the track plummeted in the days after. It was such an underwhelming response attempt that their back and forth completely ended for months after, save for Megan cracking a few jokes at the song’s expense. They briefly ended the sneak dissing with their most direct statements to each other of the entire feud. Unfortunately, it did not result in a prolonged battle.

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In June, Megan Thee Stallion finally dropped Megan, almost seven months after first announcing it. Fans wondered if she’d have anything to say about Minaj, as she did not respond to “Big Foot." She largely stayed away from addressing Minaj. However, there were a few lines aimed in her direction, on the tracks “Rattle” and “Figueroa.” On the latter, she raps, “I’m a motherf***ing brat, not a Barbie,” a not-so-subtle reference to the "Barbie Tingz" rapper. 

She also takes aim on “Rattle,” with a more in-depth reaction than the previous line. “Damn b*tch, it’s been four years / Worry ’bout your man and your kid / Your life must be boring as f*ck if you’re still reminiscin’ ’bout sh*t we did,” she raps on the track. It wasn’t quite a full diss track as some may have hoped. Still, the lines served as an acknowledgement of Minaj’s track and essentially put the recorded responses to rest.

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In September 2024, Megan Thee Stallion covered Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players issue. During the interview, she was asked about the inciting incident that led to her and Nicki Minaj falling out. “I still to this day don’t know what the problem is. I don’t even know what could be reconciled because I, to this day, don’t know what the problem is,” she said in response. She defended the decision to release “Hiss,” saying “I just knew what I had to do and what I had to say,” as Minaj continued to throw shade at her. 

“I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing,” Megan said earlier in the interview. “If people feel like I’m somebody to aim at, then I must be pretty high up if you’re reaching up at me. I must be some kind of competition. That makes me feel good. That makes me feel like I could rap because if I wasn’t the s**t, y’all wouldn’t be worried about me.” Megan’s comments did not spark a reaction from Minaj, and it was particularly interesting to note that Megan did not completely close the door on reconciliation happening one day.

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Megan Thee Stallion performed at Coachella on April 14 and 21. During her set from the first weekend, she brought out Queen Latifah, Ciara, and Victoria Monét. Despite their involvement, the main discussion stemming from her performance was the inclusion of what appeared to be a dancer in a Bigfoot costume. 

Of course, fans immediately assumed Megan was referencing Nicki Minaj’s diss track. The move received a bit of a mixed reception. While some saw the Bigfoot moment as entertaining, others felt the move was one that happened too long after the on-wax portion of their beef. They argued that the ideal time to take such a shot would have been when Megan went on the Hot Girl Summer tour in June and July of 2024, while things were still fresh. Ultimately, the Bigfoot cameo was a bit of harmless fun for Megan and her fans, serving as another humorous acknowledgement of the song while continuing to not give it the full-length response some hip-hop listeners may have hoped she would.

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In April 2024, Megan Thee Stallion was hit with a shocking lawsuit. Photographer Emilio Garcia claimed that Megan forced him to watch her have sex in the back of a moving car and created a generally hostile work environment. A month later, Megan’s legal team issued a statement saying the lawsuit “consists almost entirely of falsehoods, misrepresentations of fact, and outlandish claims." It was especially shocking because though Megan makes raunchy songs, the allegations were inconsistent with her public persona.

On July 8, 2025, a federal judge determined that the suit would move forward despite Megan and Roc Nation (with whom she signed a management agreement in 2019) motioning to dismiss it. Nicki Minaj did not waste any time bringing the beef back to the forefront. She reposted a tweet from Akademiks TV on Instagram. “What was the name of that law again???????? Karma’s Law?” she opened, referring back to the “Hiss” line. “Touch not my anointed law? Vengeance is the Lord’s law? We give God the glory & he’s only just begun. Have a blessed day if you can.” 

Minaj has been in a mostly one-sided battle against Jay-Z for years, and she recently claimed that the legendary MC-turned-mogul owes her somewhere between $100 million and $200 million. Megan has been with Roc Nation since 2019, so the suit moving forward at the same time as Minaj once again placing Jay in her sights likely felt like divine intervention. Despite the comments, Megan has not responded at the time of this writing. Regardless, with Minaj refueling the feud between her and Megan after it being largely dormant for over a year, Megan may feel compelled to respond in some way. Whatever path toward peace may have existed when Megan suggested that ending the beef was still a possibility may be all but closed now.