Celebrity beefs are complicated.
This is because mainstream entertainers exist in a politic-heavy realm that is highly nuanced, and thus, hard for the average person to relate to.
This is precisely the case between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, two of the most popular rap girlies in the game. On the one hand, we have Nicki, who is a vet. On the other, there's Cardi, who represents the new age of female rap. The Bronx MC just dropped her critically-loved sophomore album, Am I the Drama.
You probably noticed these two have been all over social feeds for the latest leg in the Nicki vs. Cardi hip-hop rumble. It is a beef that is filled with lessons but not exactly worth the time it takes to sort through all the details.
Not to worry!
No matter if you’re a man who is out of the loop or a woman who is far too busy to tap in, I’m here to wo(man) ‘splain’ the history of this beef and why it matters in 7 minutes or less.
Disclaimer: I’m a fan of both artists. Although this beef is complex, this is my attempt to sum it up as succinctly as possible. Don’t shoot the messenger!
The Catalyst
Nicki has been the fearless ruler of female hip-hop for well over a decade. While she is often criticized for being paranoid, overbearing, and confrontational, this is entirely by design. Unlike males in the industry, women are pitted against each other at every turn.
Nicki came from a time in which having a long-term successful career as a female rap artist was next to impossible. Indeed, although there have undoubtedly been successful lady rap artists in the past, each and every one of them had to fight to earn their stripes, and even still, the vast majority of their careers were relatively short-lived.
To Nicki’s credit, she had staying power, but in an industry that regularly spat out iconic talent like sunflower seeds, maintaining the crown was a battle in and of itself.
Enter: Cardi.
A hilarious former stripper turned Love & Hip Hop legend, turned platinum-selling artist. There are various rumors as to why the ladies got off on the wrong foot. Suffice it to say, Nicki doesn’t like people who play with her opps, and given the history between Remy and Cardi and the longstanding beef Nicki had with Remy, their relationship was probably doomed from the start. I mean, as women, do we really ever trust the women hanging with the women we’re beefing with?
The Crescendo
In the interest of keeping this short, once they were already off to a rough start, it was easy for fans, the media, their teams, etc., to add fuel to the fire. So, despite the fact that their camps managed to finagle a collab with the two women in 2017, their professional relationship was very much grand opening/grand closing. Also, the fact that the video seems to confirm that there was beef behind the scenes, given that they appeared to have filmed their parts on separate days, made the brewing beef too blatant to ignore.
At this point, it’s no longer two artists facing off; it’s persona versus persona, causing the underlying turmoil to become deeper than quicksand.
To sum this part up, each of the women released projects in 2018; Cardi released her debut album, Invasion of Privacy, and Nicki released Queen, further adding fuel to the friendly fire.
Ultimately, things came to a head when each woman was interviewed on Beats 1. When Cardi went on the show, she asserted that the beef was essentially created and fueled by the internet. However, when Nicki went on the show, the truth came out. She admitted that she felt Cardi was disingenuous because she focused too much energy on the fact that she had changed her verse on their “Motorsport” collab.
Honestly, I don’t think we can blame her for that. I mean, Nicki was literally at the top of her game and hardly collabed with any female rappers in the industry, let alone a newbie. If she changed her verse for any reason, she was well within her rights; it’s exactly the type of move that passionate artists make all the time.
At the same time, though, it was also hard for Cardi to ignore the rumors that Nicki’s verse, which began with
Watch your man; you should watch your mouth
was a shot at her and her now soon-to-be ex-husband, Offset.
MotorSport was a bop tho — Source: YouTube
Either way, once Nicki admitted that she wasn’t really feeling the love from Cardi, things took a turn for the worse. With all the speculation, rumors, and contradictions, fans began to take sides in a major way.
This led to the infamous almost-altercation at NYFW that I will KNOT be getting into…
After that, it was essentially years of alleged subs, during which each of the women would regularly assert that they weren’t actually taking shots at one another. So, the beef continued to brew but failed to actually boil over.
At any rate, in true urban hip-hop fashion, eventually their husbands joined the beef. In September of 2023, the two crossed paths at the VMAs. Kenneth Petty responded by posting up in front of his New York hotel, a move that got a little more than a chuckle, as Offset was on a flight to Atlanta with Kai Cenat at the time.
Fast Forward to 2025
Honestly, as always, we can argue back and forth about who started it, but what we know for a fact is that somewhere through the rogue promotional efforts of Cardi and her ingenious team, Cardi and Nicki got into it…bad! To be clear, Minaj was accused of mocking the promotional price of Cardi’s album, which obviously didn’t sit too well with the fiery star.
To be clear, I believe Cardi’s album, Am I the Drama, is fitting. It gives a glimpse of the Villain era, and the album is filled with subliminal shots, so it’s no secret that the controversy started so fast and furiously.
Insults started flying back and forth until they each started saying the most egregious things about each other’s kids.
Black Women and Kids Catch the Stray
I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t point out that neither of these women is Black American, and has been accused of saying horrible things about Black women in the past.
So, although I actually love them as artists, there’s no telling how they’d feel about me and my Black American commentary. Nevertheless, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that somehow Black women and kids always catch the stray.
Each of their kids is at least 50% Black American and got dragged for filth simply for existing. But that’s another conversation for another day.
Why it Matters
This beef matters for many reasons; in its entirety, it is a candid example of the unfortunate reality of female rappers: they are often pitted against each other and forced to fight until the career death.
And, indeed, although the hip-hop industry is known for being especially callous with its words, watching two mothers drag their children through the mud was unbecoming.
This is misogyny at play. If you look at the bigger picture, male battle rappers get far more dirty than anything said by these women; nevertheless, right is right and wrong is wrong.
I believe this is an excellent time to hone in on the fact that words have power and they can also have consequences. And clearly, given that Minaj later apologized for speaking negatively about Cardi’s kids, it’s clear that she realizes she crossed a line as well.
So, just because women can do anything a man can do (and better) doesn’t mean we should. This beef is proof that women need to get on code and start at least getting the bag together, if they’re going to beef (See Ice Spice and Latto's collab.). We’ve seen countless men come together to get the money despite issues. But in the case of women, the beefs are often far nastier and often lead to jail time, financial ruin, etc.
So, I’m not going to play moral police and say who should or shouldn’t have said or done what. But I will say, if you’re going to join the circus, at least get paid for it. And think long and hard before saying things you may regret later, especially when they pertain to children.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission.