Megan Thee Stallion shares “Hiss” and Nicki Minaj seems upset

Nicki Minaj has earned her place as rap’s elder stateswoman, but she’s burned bridges with a lot of other female rappers along the way. The latest is Megan Thee Stallion, hip hop’s ascendant Hot Girl, with whom Minaj collaborated on Megan’s 2019 smash hit “Hot Girl Summer.” Since then, things have soured between the two; fans suspected Minaj was dissing Megan on her 2023 track “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” which seemingly contained veiled references to Megan being shot by Tory Lanez and how Minaj doesn’t “fuck with horses.” Now, Megan’s snuck a diss of her own into her new track “Hiss,” which was released on Thursday.

“Hiss” begins with a proclamation: “I just wanna kick this shit off by sayin’ fuck y’all/I ain’t gotta clear my name on a motherfuckin’ thing/Every time I get mentioned, one of y’all bitch-ass n—s get twenty-four hours of attention/I’m finna get this shit off my chest and lay it to rest, let’s go.” She goes on to throw shade at several of her haters, with bars that appear to be directed at fans of Lanez, her ex Pardi Fontaine, Drake, and of course, Minaj. “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/Bitch, you a pussy (You a pussy), never finna check me (Yeah),” she raps.

“Megan’s Law” refers to the federal law requiring the public release of information regarding registered sex offenders. Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, was arrested in 2020 for failing to register as a sex offender in the state of California; he was convicted of the attempted rape in 1995. Petty and his accuser, Jennifer Hough, were both 16 at the time of the incident. (Hough has since accused Petty and Minaj of harassing her into recanting her rape claim, per Rolling Stone.)

Being Nicki Minaj, she didn’t take the “Hiss” diss lying down. She quickly took to Instagram Live (above) to share a song snippet of her own, with the bars: “Bad bitch she like six foot/I call her big foot/The bitch fell off/I said get up on your good foot/three Grammys and can’t find the beat?” Minaj can be heard giggling over the livestream after the clip plays.

In addition to commenting on Megan’s rap skills, the snippet is another reference to the Tory Lanez shooting. (Lanez is currently serving time after being convicted of shooting Megan in her foot.) Minaj further emphasized the point by liking fans’ posts on Twitter/X joking about “big foot” and even posting a picture of her own feet at a fan’s request, ignoring the number one rule of the Internet. (Don’t post your feet for free!)

As far as trading bars goes, this feud is a little lopsided: Megan’s diss is “Your husband is a convicted rapist,” while Minaj’s is “You were the victim of a violent crime.” One can debate the technical prowess of each performer’s raps, but the award for coldest bar here has to go to Megan. Minaj, meanwhile, has cultivated a reputation for pettiness (pardon the pun). While diss tracks and feuds are a long-standing part of rap tradition, Minaj’s tendency to lash out at other artists has somewhat diminished her legacy. If Megan really does “lay it to rest” on “Hiss” and rise above, she’ll definitely come out on top of this particular beef.