Content warning: This article contains explicit language
Overview and Background of the two main players
Nicki Minaj (Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty):
Staple of pop culture, Queen of rap, versatile talent and has hits in multiple genres
Involved in multiple feuds in the past (Cardi B, Latto, etc.)
Married to Kenneth Petty
Convicted of first-degree attempted rape in 1994 (served 4 years)
Required to register as a sex offender in California after release, but failed to do so
Entered into Megan’s Law’s database in California as a result
Convicted of first-degree manslaughter in 2006 (served 6 years and 11 months)
Eminent musician with over 52 million monthly listeners on Spotify as of time of writing
Megan Thee Stallion (Megan Jovan Ruth Pete):
Relatively fresh rapper (2018 professional debut)
Multiple successful collaborations with DaBaby, Beyonce, Ty Dolla $ign
Subsequent collab with Nicki herself faced mild reception
Succeeded by the infamous collab with bardi in 2020 with the critically acclaimed and wildly successful song “WAP”
Relationship with Nicki soured following this
Shot in both feet by Canadian rapper Tory Lanez in July of 2020.
Basis for attacks by Tory’s fans and other celebrities//fandoms later down the line. Considered a major controversy for her somehow??
Parted with her label, 1501 Certified Entertainment over misinterpretations of her contract and conflicts over releases of her music. “Amicably settled” in private around May 2023.
Became an independent artist following this, founding her own music and entertainment company, Hot Girl Productions.
Criticised for being too “masculine” and ridiculed for having large feet due to her height of 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Inspiration for her stage name “Thee Stallion” (voluptuous women in the Southern US are colloquially called stallions).
TIMELINE
Release of HISS:
Jan 26, 2024. No names were mentioned, but it was generally interpreted as an attack on several artists//behaviours in mainstream pop culture//music industry. In particular, this was conducted through the lyrics, “Aye, these h*es don't be mad at Megan, These h*es mad at Megan's Law”.
Nicki’s response
Following the release of HISS, Maraj began her multi-pronged assault on Megan
Hounding her based on tweets from Megan’s adolescence
Claimed that Megan was unfilial
Accusing Megan of forcing her to drink alcohol while she was then-pregnant with her first child
Cast doubt on the validity of Megan’s injuries in the aforementioned shooting involving Tory Lanez
Hosted multiple Instagram Live sessions, where she revealed snippets of her upcoming diss track, Big Foot, whilst dragging Megan.
Her incoherent voice, inconsistent and illogical speech patterns, and absence from the camera frame for extended periods of time, as well as her dishevelled appearance made many speculate and joke about her doing a “coke rant”.
Her fandom, The Barbz, also doxxed the location of Megan’s mother’s grave.
In response, local police were contacted. Patrols and increased surveillance were deployed in response to the threats and leakage online.
She attempted to promote the sale of Ben Shapiro’s single on Apple Music, in an attempt to challenge Megan’s dominance.
On January 29th, the climax of this conflict was achieved, with Big Foot being released on all platforms.
Big Foot
This highly inflammatory song takes potshots at Megan’s past actions and controversies, and attempts to downplay the severity of Nicki’s families’ actions.
This lil' beggin' wh*re talkin' 'bout Megan's Law
For a free beat, you could hit Megan raw (ooh)
If you a ghostwriter, party in Megan jaw (ooh)
Shots thrown, but I still ain't let Megan score (tell 'em)
Attempting to address Megan’s lines head on, Nicki ignores the claims or the implications of Megan’s Law, choosing instead to attack her on grounds of promiscuity and ghostwriting instead.
And Megan?
One naturally be offended by such a personal attack, no less a prominent rapper in one of the most feud-prone genres of music, but Megan remained indifferent to all the drama, and has not made any statements nor acknowledged the diss track and libel, choosing to remain indifferent and maintaining her dignity.
Public reception and aftermath
HISS was met with critical acclaim, and was well received by the public and the press. The aggressive delivery, clever wordplay, and high standard of rapping maintained throughout the song propelled it to pop limelight. Bolstered by the drama generated from Nicki Minaj’s irregularly explosive response, HISS achieved chart topping dominance in the US, debuting at the top of Billboard’s Global 200 chart (Billboard is generally regarded as the pop industry’s golden standard of measuring a song’s success and popularity).
On the other side, Nicki Minaj’s Big Foot flopped despite all the hype surrounding it. Despite achieving the highest solo female rap debut on Apple Music with 4.1 million streams on release day, it quickly fell in popularity, resulting in a number 23 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 (with comparatively less competition compared to the Global 200). It was also criticised for its use of AI art on the cover, rushed and poorly constructed lyrics, and having no genuine basis for attacks beyond playing on tropes and cheap comments. In comparison, it debuted at 36 on the Billboard Global 200, and quickly lost relevancy.
As a cornerstone of modern pop culture and a well established artist over the past 2 decades, and many other public feuds in the past, the Queen of Rap has not sustained much damage to her reputation, and any negative impressions of her have simply been amplified.
Thankfully, our favourite stallion has been reaping the rewards of her suffering and admirable handling of the situation. In an ultra-rare event, she has secured a distribution deal with Warner Group, wherein she retains ownership and rights of her own music, whilst being able to enjoy advertising and use of Warner Music Group’s facilities. She has also recently revived her sponsorship with Nike, launching a new collection. With her latest collaboration with Atarashii Gakko!, a Japanese girl group and her appearance at the the annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards as a presenter, the release of HISS seems to have been the perfect launchpad for her career after a low period where she struggled with personal issues and her mother’s death, and her other songs (eg. Not My Fault with Reneé Rapp) being pulled up by this release, the future looks bright for Megan Thee Stallion, and this Hottie is in anticipation of her next release!
Thanks for reading :)
Written by: Ryan
Edited by: Alicia and Lie Qi
Designed by: Qianhui
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