Jay StahlUSA TODAY
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Megan Thee Stallion is spending her 2024 "Hot Girl Summer" on tour amid beef with fellow rapper Nicki Minaj.
The news of her tour and new album, which she announced exclusively Tuesday to "Good Morning America" comes after she made headlines over the weekend when Minaj bit back at the Houston rapper, who released her new single "Hiss" on Friday.
"I feel like I've never been able to be outside doing my own thing during the summer since like 2019, so this gonna be the first time that I drop an album on time for the summer. I do want to give the Hotties the Megan Thee Stallion experience," the 28-year-old rapper told "GMA."
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As for Minaj, the "Anaconda" hitmaker spent the weekend attempting to trade barbs with Megan Thee Stallion, who has yet to publicly respond, in a series of controversial tweets and sessions on Instagram Live.
After "Hiss," Megan Thee Stallion's first song of the year, arrived Friday, Minaj took to X over the weekend with a series of posts including lyrics to a song, "Big Foot."
Aimed at Megan Thee Stallion, Minaj makes reference in the "Big Foot" lyrics to her rival's personal life, including the death of Megan Thee Stallion's late mother, Holly Thomas, and her injuries from fellow rapper Tory Lanez shooting her. Lanez, who is currently serving 10 years in prison after a jury found him guilty, shot Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in July 2020.
Why are Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion feuding?
Despite their 2019 collaboration on "Hot Girl Summer," the duo's professional relationship has cooled in recent months as their beef continues to heat up.
A year after "Hot Girl Summer," Megan Thee Stallion collaborated with fellow Minaj enemy Cardi B on a hit single, "WAP" in 2020. After Minaj released her 2023 song, "Red Ruby Da Sleeze," fans speculated that the Queen of Rap had some scores to settle with a reference that was seemingly directed at Megan Thee Stallion.
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"Seven hundred on 'em horses when we fixin' to leave," she raps in "Da Sleeze" before saying she doesn't deal "with horses since Christopher Reeve," a reference to Megan's "Stallion" moniker. (Reeve, the late actor and former Superman, was left permanently paralyzed from the neck down after a near-fatal equestrian accident in 1995.)
What is Megan's Law?
Then, Megan Thee Stallion fired back with a dig at the legal troubles of Minaj's family members. In "Hiss," Megan Thee Stallion raps that people "don't be mad at Megan," but they're "mad at Megan's Law."
The lyrics are an apparent reference to Minaj, who is married to registered sex offender Kenneth Petty, though Megan Thee Stallion never mentions Minaj or her husband directly.
Megan's Law is a federal law that requires registered sex offenders to provide their personal information to local law enforcement agencies. It was named in memory of Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old who was raped and murdered by her neighbor who was a convicted sex offender in 1994.
Petty was sentenced to probation and house arrest for failing to register as a sex offender in California. Petty isa registeredLevel 2 sex offender onNew York State’sSex Offender Registry. In April 1995, Petty was convicted ofattempted first-degree rape in connection with a 1994 assault thatoccurred when both he and the victim were 16. He used a knife or cutting instrument during the commission of the crime, according to the registry.
"We appreciate and respect the Court’s decision granting the defense request for probation and home confinement," Petty's attorneys Michael Goldstein andHagop Kuyumjiantold USA TODAY in a statement at the time.
In January 2020, Minaj's brother Jelani Maraj was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl at his Long Island, New York, home. Maraj's lawyers said the rape allegations were created by the girl's mother as part of a scheme to get Nicki Minaj to pay $25 million in hush money.
Nicki Minaj's 'Big Foot' lyrics take aim at Megan Thee Stallion's late mother
Minaj previously previewed the "Big Foot" lyrics on Instagram Live shortly after "Hiss" was released.
"Swearing on your dead mother when you lie," Minaj said in one line. "Cause she was lying on your dead momma."
She also told Megan Thee Stallion she "fell off, I said 'get up on your good foot." Later, Minaj raps "like a bodybuilder I keep raisin' the bar" before rhyming and questioning "you get shot with no scar?"
The question, which is a suggestion that Megan Thee Stallion has lied about getting shot, contradicts the earlier "get up on your good foot" lyric, which is made in reference to Megan Thee Stallion being shot in the feet.
Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion
"You was lyin' to the Queen and you went lyin' to the King, Gayle," Minaj says, referencing Megan Thee Stallion's April 2022 interview with Gayle King after the shooting.
"That thirty-year-old tea, so stale. Kylie, kicked you out and made you stumble to the car; Barbz, I need a good alcohol bar," Minaj raps. The Lanez shooting occurred after leaving a party at Kylie Jenner's house during an argument with the Houston native and her former best friend Kelsey Harris.
'Hiss' follows Megan Thee Stallion's 'Cobra,' which chronicles depression, trauma
"Hiss" details the three-time Grammy Award winner's trials and triumphs throughout the past few years.
Though Megan Thee Stallion has topped the charts with buzzy collaborations alongside Cardi B, Beyoncé and more, she's faced public scrutiny and trauma in recent years after the shooting.
Megan Thee Stallion feared police after alleged Tory Lanez shooting: 'We're about to die'
In her previous single, "Cobra," about life post-shooting, Megan Thee Stallion opens up about her mental health struggles, rapping, "I'm sittin' in a dark room thinking, probably why I always end up drinking; (Yes), I'm very depressed." In the song, she also makes reference to suicidal ideation and thoughts.
Social media users take issue with Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj
By Friday morning, a slew of social media users took sides in the feud.
"'Who wanna play wit Nicki' oh she don't play…she gets down omg Nicki," one user wrote on X, in reference to lyrics from Minaj's hit song "FTCU."
"Big Foot in the clubs would go crazy," one user wrote and Minaj later reposted. The rapper also quoted a post on X that said, "@NICKIMINAJ post a pic of ur feet," with a photo of her feet.
Many fans took to X to defend Megan Thee Stallion in response to the rap royalty's back and forth.
"Nicki Minaj was a fresh new sound for so many millennial girls growing up. To have grown, become a woman myself & watch her legacy perish because she chose to marry a predator, enable rapists, and abusers, mock a woman who was shot? A shame. An embarrassment," one user commented on X.
"Just shows how much not having a Grammy burns her up inside," another said, while quoting the video of Minaj mocking Megan Thee Stallion's flow.
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text,or chat withthe988Suicide& Crisis Lifelineor visit988lifeline.orgfor 24/7 access to free and confidential services.
Contributing: Charles Trepany, Naledi Ushe, Cydney Henderson
