When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong: Megan Thee Stallion vs. Nicki Minaj

By Brian Richards | Social Media | January 29, 2024 |

By Brian Richards | Social Media | January 29, 2024 |

I just wanna kick this sh-t off by sayin’ f-ck y’all
I ain’t gotta clear my name on a motherf-ckin’ thing
I’m finna get this shit off my chest and lay it to rest, let’s go

Those are the opening bars for Megan Thee Stallion’s newest single, “Hiss,” which was released this past Friday, and it was immediately crystal-clear that the H-Town Hottie was taking no prisoners. After being shot by Tory Lanez in July 2020 following a heated argument, not only did Megan have to relive the incident when Lanez was put on trial for the shooting, she also had to deal with anonymous f-ckboys and Pick-Mes on social media saying horrible things about her, as well as other rappers cracking jokes and spitting lyrics in their songs about what happened to her. Megan shared how much of a toll this shooting, as well as the losses of her parents, her grandmother, and failed friendships and relationships, had taken on her mental health with the 2023 single, “Cobra.” But with “Hiss,” she was letting the choppa spray.

DaBaby, who bragged about how he had supposedly hooked up with Megan before she was shot by Tory Lanez (“Say he f-cked Megan and now he the topic/These niggas thinkin’ they lowered the value/All this free promo, I’m turnin’ a profit/Hate when a nigga be kissin’ and tellin’[Tellin’]/Say he a player, but he in his feelings [What?]/Bet I won’t give up the p-ssy again/Sh-t, should’ve gave it to his friend [Ayy]”); Drake, who implied that Megan had lied about being shot by Tory, and also insinuating that she underwent plastic surgery to receive BBLs, even though he himself has been suspected of getting cosmetic surgery (“All these lil’ rap niggas so fraud [So fraud], Xanax be they hardest bars/These niggas hate on BBLs and be walkin’ ‘round with the same scars (Ah)/Real curvy, no edgin’, niggas fight to get in my section [My section]/Don’t speak on my body count if the dick ain’t worth comin’ back for seconds/Cosplay gangsters, fake-ass accents/Posted in another nigga hood like a bad bitch [Where are you from?]”); Chromazz, who not only released a diss track against Megan called “Marcus Thee Stallion” after appearing in the music video for Tory Lanez’s track “Boink Boink,” but has insulted her during interviews as well (“Don’t you ever grab a mic and think that me and you competin’…Why every time one of y’all Z-list hoes do an interview, I get mentioned?”); to Tory Lanez and his fans (“I don’t give a f-ck who think what, you niggas is typin’ for nothin’/On the internet typin’ this sh-t to me? Write him a letter or somethin’/Download JPay since y’all niggas got so much to say/Or schedule a conjugal visit or somethin’, hahaha/D-ck ridin’-ass niggas”) all found themselves in Megan’s crosshairs. But it was what Megan had to say about Nicki Minaj that had everyone talking.

First, there was this…

“I can never be judged by a bitch that was dancin’, makin’ R. Kelly go viral”

This was a reference to Nicki Minaj dropping R. Kelly’s name in her track “Up In Flames.”

And then, there was this…

These hoes don’t be mad at Megan, these hoes mad at Megan’s Law

If you’re familiar at all with Nicki Minaj and her personal life, then you’re aware that Nicki is married to one Kenneth Petty, who became a registered sex offender after pleading guilty to attempted rape when he was 16. In August 2021, Nicki and Kenneth had a lawsuit filed against them by his victim for alleged harassment and intimidation (which would later be voluntarily dropped), and in July 2022, Kenneth was sentenced to one year of house arrest after failing to register at his new home address upon moving to California with Nicki. Megan’s Law is the name for a federal law in the U.S. (which was created in response to the 1994 murder of 10-year-old Megan Kanka) that requires law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Even though Megan never mentioned Kenneth’s name in “Hiss,” Nicki took that bar as Megan talking sh-t about her husband (and about her brother, Jelani, who was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl). And she was not having any of it.

A few minutes after “Hiss” dropped, Nicki immediately went on Instagram Live to express her anger at Megan, and while doing so, she played a snippet of her unreleased track about Megan — and about her getting shot by Tory Lanez — called “Big Foot.”

Not surprisingly, Nicki’s fans (which also included Sergio Kletnoy, the entertainment director for Vogue) shared their comments and their usage of laughing emojis in response to what they were hearing. Megan, who had recently stated that she would stop giving attention and acknowledgment on social media to those who hate on her and disrespect her, used a single photo as her response to what Nicki shared on Instagram Live. That response?

Nicki then live-streamed on Stationhead to continue lashing out at Megan, and accused her of mistreating numerous people in her life, including DaBaby and Tory Lanez, and that she needs to conjure her deceased mother so she can apologize for her behavior. Even if Nicki wasn’t familiar with the pain and grief of losing a parent, as she did when her father, Robert Maraj, was killed in a hit-and-run in February 2021, the fact that Nicki would even say such a thing to Megan was considered an incredibly low blow.

Nicki also decided to go after producer Lil Juju for not allowing the beat on “Big Foot” to be cleared for usage, even though she’s had it for six years and that “Big Foot” has been ready to go for the last couple of days, and that she’s been holding back on dropping it so that Megan and her new track can get some attention from her fans.

Nicki Minaj’s tirade went on for the entire weekend. And it made some people on social media question if Nicki was in need of an actual wellness check for her mental health to ensure that this all wasn’t a manic episode, while also pointing out she is clearly the loser in this battle with Megan. Not just because of her own atrocious behavior, but because of her most devoted fans, the Barbz, and how she practically encourages them to do their worst on her behalf. This newest chapter in the Megan Thee Stallion-Nicki Minaj beef has been yet another reminder of how Nicki is the problem when it comes to how many times she has fallen out with people she was once close to and on friendly terms with, all because she wants to be the only female rapper who gets to play and win in the sandbox that is mainstream rap.

Things have now gotten so bad that some of the Barbz found out where Megan’s mother — Holly Thomas, who died in 2019 from a cancerous brain tumor — was buried, and were willing to vandalize her gravesite on Nicki’s behalf. Megan’s fans, on the other hand, proved that they were just as capable of striking back, and they found out where Nicki’s father is buried in case they ever decide to vandalize his gravesite as well. Victoria Monét, Grammy-nominated R&B singer-songwriter, got doxxed last night by the Barbz as well. Why did this happen, you ask? Because there is recent video footage of Victoria at a party with Megan, and the two of them getting down on the dance floor and having fun together. That’s it, that’s all the reasoning that was needed for Barbz to find Victoria Monét’s address and phone number, and release them for the entire public to know. Fortunately for Victoria and her family, the information proved to be incorrect, but the fact that Nicki’s stans were willing to doxx her and violate her privacy over some bullish-t was both infuriating and terrifying.

Yesterday morning, writer-comedian-author Ziwe approached Nicki Minaj on Twitter and, much like she did with George Santos, asked if she would be willing to sit down with her for an interview.

The response to Ziwe’s request was extremely divisive on Twitter. Some people came to Ziwe’s defense, and pointed out that she is a comedian and a satirist who knows exactly what she’s doing when sitting down with guests for interviews, and that what she does, and how she does it, is no different from what Stephen Colbert would do when he hosted The Colbert Report. Others had no interest whatsoever in seeing Ziwe give a platform to yet another problematic individual like Nicki Minaj. From Chet Hanks, who likes to be an abusive f-ckboy towards the Black women he dates when he’s not busy speaking in a horrible Jamaican accent, to George Santos, the liar and con artist who was recently expelled from Congress, and who told Ziwe to her face that clout-chasers like her are the reason why he’s still making headlines, they had no confidence in Ziwe sitting down with yet another a—hole known primarily for their bad behavior, and they had no confidence in Ziwe saying anything to truly call her out, or make her look foolish on camera. The amount of negative attention that Ziwe got for her interview request made quite an impact, as she deactivated her Twitter account before the day was over.

As for “Big Foot,” the actual track that Nicki was promising to release today at midnight? Well, it finally happened, and the world got to hear all four minutes and twenty-three seconds of her newest lyrical attack on Megan Thee Stallion.

When they finally heard it? A lot of people on social media, people who aren’t Barbz, who were willing to give Nicki the benefit of the doubt, and who expected a track that would at least be the same level of quality as her classic verse on “Monster?” They had the same opinion about “Big Foot” as I do.

Nicki tweeting out the lyrics to “Big Foot,” as if to ensure that her lyrical craftsmanship wouldn’t fly over any of our heads, didn’t help make the track any better.

Even if Megan chose to never again respond to this (I kinda hope that she does, and is even more ruthless towards Nicki, just for having the audacity to bring up Megan’s mother as if that was anything resembling a good idea), and continue remaining silent and not giving her any attention on social media, it was clear to everyone (and by “everyone,” I mean “Everyone who has supported and who continues to support Megan Thee Stallion, and not spend their free time disrespecting a Black female celebrity who has been to Hell and back with everything that life has thrown at her”) who the winner in this battle is. And that winner is Megan Thee Stallion. Though I can guarantee that by the time this is published, there will probably be more updates to this beef, all because Nicki Minaj (and almost all of her Barbz, including Jeffree Star, because birds of a problematic feather flock together) has not a single friend in her corner who will take away her phone, and tell her to look at her life, and look at her choices.

This has been another episode of “When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong.”