From "Hot Girl Summer" to "Big Foot:" Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion's Feud, Explained

If you are tired of seeing and hearing about Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj’s feud, so are we. But if you’re also wondering how and when it all started, you’re not alone either. 

The relationship between the two rappers started friendly, but they have since taken a turn for the worse. They have both reportedly taken shots at each other on their respective diss tracks, “Hiss” and “Big Foot,” while their fans have flooded social media defending their favorites. 

Rap beefs are part of the trade and have often culminated in hit songs and become cultural moments. In this instance, things have gotten murky and, some might say, perhaps a bit too personal with both rappers hitting each other below the belt. Megan took aim at Minaj's husband, while Minaj mentioned her opponent's mother who died in 2019 on more than one occasion.

They began their friendship through an Instagram Live, which resulted in Minaj jumping on Megan’s 2019 track “Hot Girl Summer.” So much has happened since between them, and their ongoing feud was reignited this month—and it appears that it won’t be slowing down any time soon. To bring you up to speed, we rounded up some key moments in the rappers’ friendship and their fall out, which has now turned into one of hip-hop’s most heated feuds.

When: August 2019

It’s always good news when a hip-hop newcomer gets a blessing from a well-established rapper. That seemed to be the case when Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj linked up for “Hot Girl Summer” in August 2019. The idea for a collaboration came about after they met during an Instagram Live the month before.

The Texas rapper expressed her excitement for working with Minaj on Twitter. "I also can’t believe that I collaborated with @NICKIMINAJ!!!" she wrote. "This woman is one of the greatest to ever fucking do it 🙏🏽💙 THANK YOU."

“The song was already recorded and ready to go and then we went live together and she [Nicki Minaj] literally recorded her verse that night,” she later told E! News. “And they sent the song to me and I was like, ‘This is not real life. Y’all are playing right now.’ I love it. It was amazing. I can’t believe she did it so fast.” 

When: August 2020

Variety wrote a profile about Megan in August 2020, in anticipation of her “WAP” collaboration with Cardi B. They reached out to Nicki for a comment, but it’s unclear if she was aware of the collaboration at the time. “One of my favorite things about Meg is her desire to further her education,” she told Variety at the time. “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. Women are more than just baby mamas, and we can continue to prove that by being goal-oriented, bettering ourselves and being independent. Megan is the perfect example that we can have fun and be smart at the same time.”

When: September 2020 

In an attempt to steer clear of taking sides in the Nicki vs. Cardi B rivarly, Megan also collaborated with Cardi B on their 2020 song “WAP.” The hit song and its video became a sensation, and cemented Megan at the top of the new wave of female rappers. In 2023, when Minaj released Pink Friday 2, she called out Billboard, who discounted some of her sales due to her asking her fans for proof of purchase for her “100 Barbz” contest. She brought up a giveaway Cardi and Megan had for “WAP” with CashApp in 2020 that gave someone $1 million. Cardi responded saying that the giveaway didn’t require any proof of purchase.  

When: November 2020

During an interview at Chicago radio station 107.5 WGCI, Megan said that she didn’t reach out to Nicki before working with Cardi B. She then said she felt like the collaboration shouldn't change her relationship with Minaj. “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,” she said. “My personal relationship with anybody doesn’t affect what I choose to do as an artist.”

On the other hand, she said working with Cardi deepened their friendship. “Even me and Cardi’s relationship furthered after the song. Like, she’s great on her own. I love her as a person. We talk often—we talk a lot. Me and Nicki, our relationship hasn’t changed since we did ‘Hot Girl Summer.'”

“I feel like women, we really do know how to coexist,” she added. “We really do know how to not be catty, so despite popular Internet opinion, that’s really not the case.”

When: January 2021

In January 2021, fans noticed that Minaj had unfollowed Megan on Instagram, sparking rumors that their friendship had turned sour. Then in January 2022, Megan reportedly unfollowed Minaj as well. Anyone who knows anything about celebrity drama understands that an Instagram unfollow is a clear sign that things have gone awry between two people. While it may seem simple, fans see unfollowing someone on social media as a public disassociation from the person.

When: May 2021

Young Money fans were treated to a surprise when Minaj teamed up with Lil Wayne and Drake on “Seeing Green,” which was included in the re-release of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. One line in particular was speculated to be a shot at Megan. “One Margarita pizza with Parmesan and garlic/These bitches thirsty, I can see why they alcoholics. Ain't gotta ever talk about it when you are about it.”

When: September 2022 

Minaj opened up about an alleged encounter she had with Megan, saying that the “Savage” rapper tried to force her to drink alcohol when she thought she might be pregnant. “Imagine telling someone you didn’t want to drink because you were, at the time, possibly pregnant. Because you were actively trying to have a baby,” Nicki said on her Queen Radio Apple Music show. “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,” Minaj added. “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 sh*ts in motherf*cking house.”

Megan denied the allegations on X (formerly Twitter) with a simple: “Lie.”

When: March 2023

In Minaj’s 2023 song “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” there were some horse references that fans quickly assumed were aimed at Megan. “700 on them horses when we fixing to leave/But I don’t f–k with horses since Christopher Reeves,” Minaj says. She also made a reference to Doritos, a brand Megan had worked with, saying: “Dorito bitches mad that they nachos.”

Fans connected another bar to Megan being shot in the foot by Tory Lanez in 2020. “That .40 cal a make them dance like a go-go," Minaj rapped.

When: January 2024

Megan released a new track titled “Hiss,” which served as a venting session and addressed people she has had issues with in the past few years. And of course, Minaj was no exception. The bar that fans believe was mainly targeting Minaj was about Megan’s Law, a federal law that requires law enforcement to make information about registered sex offenders public. The law was created in response to the murder of a child named Megan Kanka. Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, served four years in jail for the rape of a 16-year-old girl in 1995.

“These hoes don’t be mad at Megan, these hoes mad at Megan’s Law,” Megan raps. “I don’t really know what the problem is, but I guarantee y’all don’t want me to start/Bitch, you a pussy, never finna check me/Every chance you get, bet your weak ass won’t address me.”

Kanka’s family expressed their disappointment about the reference to their daughter’s murder being included in the song.

When: January 2024

After a weekend of Instagram Lives and a slew of tweets aimed at Megan, Minaj teased that she would be releasing a song titled “Big Foot.” While she was waiting to get clearance to release the track, she took to social media to express her thoughts about Megan and the "Hiss" lyrics. “Bullet fragment foot b*tch… you bringing up 30-year-old tea from when this man was a 15-year-old child," she says in one clip from an Instagram Live. "You bringing up 30-year-old tea 'cause no man will ever f*cking love you, and lying on your dead mother.”

Minaj calls out Megan directly throughout "Big Foot," and at one point she says: "Kylie kicked you out and made you stumble to the car," referring to the night Megan was shot in the foot, then questions the validity of the incident, asking, "F*ck you get shot with no scar?”

She made other remarks, including one about Megan’s deceased mother. “How you fuck your mother man when she die? How you go on Gayle King and can't cry? Chile, bye. Big Foot, but you still a small fry.” 

Megan remained silent but reportedly shared a photo of herself laughing to her Instagram story.