A timeline of Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion’s feud: From Hot Girl Summer to Hiss and Big Foot

The two rap stars once championed each other after collaborating on their 2019 hit, ‘Hot Girl Summer’, but things appeared to sour when Megan teamed up with Minaj’s rival, Cardi B

There was a time when Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj only had positive things to say about one another. Back in 2019, they released one of the biggest hits of the year when they collaborated on “Hot Girl Summer”, with Megan constantly citing Minaj as one of her biggest idols.

Then it all went wrong. Whether sparked by Megan collaborating with Minaj’s rival, Cardi B, or some behind-the-scenes drama that has yet to be made public, the two rap stars are now at loggerheads and busy releasing diss tracks containing thinly veiled barbs at one another.

After Minaj, 41, explicitly referenced a lyric from Megan’s recent diss track, “Hiss”, in her own song “Big Foot”, fans have confirmation that the two former friends are now at war. Here’s a timeline of their feud.

August 2019: “Hot Girl Summer”

As is the case with many celebrity disputes, it all looked so promising at the start. Back in the summer of 2019, Megan had recently released her widely acclaimed mixtape, Fever, and was becoming increasingly popular as a rapper on the rise.

In July, Megan was overjoyed when she had the chance to “meet” Nicki via a joint Instagram Live session.“We are gagging right now, we are dead!” the Houston rapper declared when she joined the broadcast. “B****, we love you! Since 2008, when I was in eighth grade, and I could listen to you.”

Appreciative of the adoration, Minaj replied: “Congratulations on you doing your thing, and rapping and writing, and going to school.”

Megan Thee Stallion in an Instagram Live with her formal idol, Nicki Minaj (Screenshot/Instagram)

After the rappers’ successful online chat, rumours quickly swirled of them collaborating on a new track to cement their professional union. It was soon confirmed by Minaj, who responded to a fan on Twitter (now X) and claimed that she penned her verse soon after hearing the music.

She wrote: “So true. I was right on the verge of losing my voice & it was mad late so I was already sounding like a man. But once I heard the song I fell in love. Wrote it b4 I went to sleep. None of that was planned. I had no idea meg was on live or that she would want to go live 2gthr.”

“Hot Girl Summer”, which also features Ty Dolla Sign, was released on 9 August and peaked at Number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

August 2020: “WAP”

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion in the video for ‘WAP’ (Screenshot)

With Megan’s star firmly on the rise, a number of other artists were keen to work with her, including Minaj’s old sparring partner, Cardi B. A belated song of the summer, “WAP” dropped in August 2020 as the lead single from the “Bodak Yellow” star’s forthcoming second album.

Instantly polarising due to the explicit nature of the lyrics, it was nonetheless hailed as a triumph of sexual empowerment and became the first female rap collaboration to debut at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.

While the song itself was a hit, it also fuelled speculation that Megan had fallen out with Minaj, due to the “Anaconda” rapper’s long-running feud with Cardi B.

Tensions between the two had grown so bad that they were involved in a physical altercation at a New York Fashion Week party in 2018, when Cardi allegedly threw a shoe at the fellow rapper.

December 2020 / January 2021: “Seeing Green”

Nicki Minaj appeared to make a dig at Megan Thee Stallion in her song ‘Seeing Green’ (AFP via Getty Images)

By the end of 2020, Megan was rumoured to be distancing herself from Minaj and her friends, at the same time as publicly praising Cardi following their “WAP” success.

Minaj unfollowed Megan on Instagram in January 2021, prompting fans to begin labelling them as rivals while looking for any hints at a feud in their respective song lyrics. Months later, they were convinced that Minaj took a swipe at Megan in her song “Seeing Green”, where she raps: “One Margarita pizza with Parmesan and garlic. These b***hes thirsty; I can see why they alcoholics.”

September 2022: Queen Radio

After brushing off questions about Megan during a Queen Radio show in September 2022, Minaj then proceeded to detail an alleged conversation with someone who, Minaj claimed, tried to get her to drink while she was pregnant and suggested she could get an abortion.

“Imagine telling someone you didn’t want to drink because you were, at the time, possibly pregnant. Because you were actively having a baby,” she said. “Imagine if that person said, ‘Oh girl, you can go to the clinic.’“

Nicki continued, “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 muthaf****in’ house.”

When a fan relayed Minaj’s comments to Megan, she responded with an all-caps post to X (formerly known as Twitter), where she simply wrote: “LIE.”

In the same show, Minaj appeared to make several references to an emerging female rapper she felt she had supported and championed, then felt let down or betrayed by.

Megan Thee Stallion at the premiere for ‘Mean Girls’ (AP)

March 2023: “Red Ruby Da Sleeze”

Minaj dropped a new track in March 2023, “Red Ruby Da Sleeze”, in which she appeared to take a number of swipes against her former collaborator, Megan.

Rapping over a sample of Lummidee’s 2003 hit “Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)”, she rapped: “700 on ’em horses when we fixin’ to leave/ But I don’t f*** with horses since Christopher Reeves.”

She later spat that “Dorito bitches mad that they not chose” in an apparent reference to Megan’s branded track, “Flamin’ Hottie”, for a Super Bowl commercial for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Doritos.

The most pointed lyric came when Minaj rapped: “That .40 cal a make ’em dance like a go-go,” which seemed to be a blatant nod to rapper Tory Lanez shooting Megan in the foot in an incident in July 2020. He was reportedly shouting, “Dance, bitch!” while shooting at her.

Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a jury convicted him of first-degree assault, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence and having a concealed and unregistered firearm in a vehicle.

Tory Lanez was convicted for the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion (AP)

January 2024: “Hiss” and “Big Foot”

The most recent chapter of Megan and Minaj’s difficult relationship began when Megan released her latest single, “Hiss”, on Friday (26 January).

The track begins with Megan’s declaration that she wants to “get this s*** off my chest and lay it to rest”, before later rapping the lines: “These hoes don’t be mad at Megan, these hoes 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’s Law refers to the US federal law that enforces that information regarding registered sex offenders is available to the public. For some, this line is a veiled remark aimed at Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, who is a registered sex offender after pleading guilty to attempted rape by force or fear at age 16.

Mere hours after the release of “Hiss”, Minaj launched into a tirade on social media and previewed her song, “Big Foot”, a diss track to Megan. The song as released in full on Monday (29 January), with notable lyrics such as: “Bad b*** she like six foot, I call her, “Big Foot” / The b**** fell off, I said, Get up on your good foot”.

Nicki Minaj (left) and Megan Thee Stallion are locked in a feud that has grown over the past few years (Getty)

As well as likely referring to Megan’s height (5 ft 10 inches / 178cm) and the fact that she was shot in the foot by Tory Lanez, Minaj also repeats the line: “Lying on your dead momma”. Megan’s mother, Holly Thomas, died in March 2019 of a brain tumour.

At the time of writing, Megan has not acknowledged Minaj’s new release.

The Independent has contacted Megan and Minaj’s representatives for comment.