Nicki Minaj’s response to Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Hiss’ was a mistake

Nicki Minaj’s “Big Foot,” a song she released this week in her escalating feud with fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion, has flopped.

Houston rapper Megan released “Hiss” on January 26, with several lines taking aim at anonymous figures in the music industry. Although Megan’s song didn’t seem to focus on a specific person, Minaj took at least one of the lines personally.

The “Hiss” line in question: “These hoes ain’t mad at Megan / These hoes be mad at Megan’s Law,” Megan rapped.

Megan’s Law, implemented in 1994, requires convicted sex offenders to register with the federal government. Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, is covered by that law because of his 1994 conviction on a charge of attempted rape. In fact, in July 2022, Petty was sentenced to one year of house arrest and three years of probation. for not registering as a sex offender.

Minaj’s brother, Jelani Maraj, has also been convicted of a sexual crime, specifically predatory sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in 2020.

Despite Minaj’s decision to respond on social media and with “Big Foot,” there is little indication that this was an attempt against her, or solely against her. The entertainment industry, and specifically the music industry, is in the in the midst of reckoning with sexual violence against womenso the line could refer to any number of accused or convicted sex offenders.

Megan herself has not suggested that the line was about Minaj. In a telephone interview inThe breakfast club“The morning of her song release, Megan told the host. Charlamagne Tha God that the song is for “these bitches and hoes alike, men or women.”

“I’m saying, a beaten dog is going to scream. That’s all. “Whoever feels it, let them feel it,” Megan added.

(Charlemagne himself has He publicly admitted to having “raped” his wife and has been accused of raping a girl when she was 15 years oldalthough he has denied those accusations).

Minaj did indeed scream.

On her diss track, “Big Foot,” Minaj raps: “This little beggar bitch talking about Megan’s Law / For a free beat, you can hit Megan raw / If you’re a ghostwriter, Pardi on Megan’s jaw / Shots fired but I still don’t let Megan score.”

Minaj’s attempt to shame Megan seems to overlook the fact that Megan has built a fan base by shamelessly rapping about enjoying sex. It also overlooks the fact that Minaj has also rapped about sex many times throughout her career, as have many other rappers and musical artists.

Minaj also referenced a 2020 incident in which rapper Tory Lanez shot Megan in the feet.

“Fuck, they shoot you without a scar?” Minaj rapped on “Big Foot.”

The line attempts to debunk Megan’s claims against Lanez. Several rappers, including Drake, DaBaby, 50 Cent and Boosie Badazz, have done the same since news of the shooting broke.

After the attack, Megan also posted (and deleted) a photo of his injuries..

At the end of the two-week trial, the jury found Lanez guilty of assault with a semi-automatic pistol, carrying a loaded and unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. In August, a judge Lanez sentenced to 10 years Behind bars.

Minaj also repeatedly mentioned Megan’s mother, who passed away in March 2019, with the lyrics “Lyin’ on your dead mama.”

The online response to Minaj’s social media spiral has been overwhelmingly negative, with many wondering how the “Queen of Rap” made such a serious mistake. TMZ he bluntly wrote that fans “rejected” the “Big Foot” album.

Uncountable observers in social networks media have argued that Minaj’s legacy has been tarnished by her marriage to Petty and his tendency to pursue other women in the hip-hop game, including rappers Cardi B, Remy Ma and Lil’ Kim.

a tiktoker noted that Minaj’s fan base is becoming more comfortable holding Minaj accountable while she “terrorizes other women.” Other fans have They retired their “Barbz” status, the nickname of Minaj’s fans.

Until Wednesday, “Hiss,” Megan’s follow-up to November’s “Cobra,” was the title song on Spotify In the United States, “Big Foot” ranked at No. 23. Megan has not directly responded to Minaj’s “Big Foot,” but she released two new versions of the song on Wednesday: an acoustic version and a “cut and screwed” version.

AD Carson, an associate professor of hip-hop at the University of Virginia, told HuffPost that the feud between Megan and Minaj reflects “some of the types of narratives that people have projected onto black women.”

“The United States of America hates women, particularly black women,” Carson said.

Hip-hop music was created in the Bronx, New York, out of protest and necessity, HuffPost’s Taryn Finley wrote in an article marking hip-hop’s 50th anniversary last year. Since then, the genre has had a major impact on fashion, language, and pop culture in general.

“Hip-hop has only existed in the public sphere, as we understand it, for about 50 years. And we don’t have as many examples of rap music as pop music, where the most recognizable faces, names and voices are women. “It’s a unique moment in this short history,” Carson said.

black female rappers They were once much less frequent than now. But throughout the 1990s and 2000s, hip-hop legends like Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Missy Elliot and Trina paved the way for the new “rap girls.”

But with all the influence and evolution of the genre, misogyny remains central to the genre. many areSpecialists do not try to hide it.

There’s Dr. Dre’s infamous “Bitches Ain’t S**t” (which has a history of violence against women) with Snoop Dog (whom singer Dionne Warwick once condemned for his misogynistic lyrics). Rapper Future is famous for his music in which he denigrates women by constantly calling them “bitches” and “sluts.” And Drake, despite his”Good Guy“person,” “looks at the power that women have over him sexually and the power he may have over them financially,” according to the atlantic Spencer Kornhaber.

Over time, many female rappers have tried to reclaim words like “bitch” and “ho,” and some have found ways to express their enjoyment of sex. But warp tracks are ingrained in the genre, and conversations about anti-Black racism and sexism, victim blaming, and slut-shaming in rap and warp tracks are especially complicated.

For example, rapper Remy Ma wrote the song “Shether,” while Lil’ Kim released “Black Friday,” both directed at Minaj. Both tracks suggested that Minaj used sex to become successful, but more generally, she said that Minaj just wasn’t that talented.

“Hip-hop and any cultural product will often reflect the same evils that come with living in that broader culture,” Carson said. “And so, American culture being what it is, you can see how two black women arguing or rapping with each other can easily rely on the most accessible and easy-to-understand stereotypical tropes.”

She also noted that consumers are likely to use this conflict to generalize black women, who already face a number of stereotypes.

But one thing’s for sure: Minaj’s “Big Foot” has sparked more conversations about her own legacy than Megan’s.

“In the craft of writing this record, (Minaj) really revealed the game before it even started,” Carson said. “I don’t know what the comeback story is on this because it feels like a mistake.”