The list of artists with whom Nicki Minaj has had conflicts continues to grow. SZA is her most recent target. The rapper opened fire on the r&b singer earlier this week. What’s going on?
“Wait. Does SZA think she’s more successful than me? Lol, talk to me. SZA, if every song you ever made disappeared from the face of the earth, the music industry wouldn’t miss you at all. I’ve performed in countries where they haven’t even heard of you.” With these words, Minaj tried to undermine her colleague’s success. But why?
The feud between the two artists began earlier this week with an X message from SZA, in which Minaj was not mentioned by name. “Mercury retrograde, don’t fall for it, crazy,” SZA wrote about the position of the planets. The singer, known for hits like Kill Bill and Shirt, often writes these kinds of messages. This time, the message came shortly after a post by Minaj in which she lashed out at SZA’s former manager, who allegedly bullied Minaj online. Minaj interpreted SZA’s message as a response to her, but SZA denies that.
But Minaj didn’t let that stop her. The insults flew at SZA. “You sound like a dead dog.” “You look and sound like you’ve been stung by a bee.” She wrote multiple messages about SZA’s freckles, which she supposedly draws on her face.
Then followed a series of X messages in which she questioned SZA’s musical successes, such as an album that was number one for thirteen weeks in the United States. She shared X messages from Barbz (as the rapper’s fans call themselves) claiming that Minaj is a bigger name in the music world.
SZA says Minaj wanted to collaborate with her multiple times
“I don’t give a fuck about the weird shit you say,” SZA initially responded to Minaj’s messages. “I wasn’t even talking about or to anyone. I just came off stage and just said something about retrograde,” she responded to a Minaj fan who said it was SZA’s own fault that she was being attacked by Minaj.
SZA is not impressed by the rapper’s fanatical fans. “I get bullied online by millions of people every day. But then I step on stage during a stadium tour and people give me real love, in real life. My parents are healthy and I’m more successful than I’ve ever been,” she writes.
She responded to Minaj’s claims that SZA’s music has no impact on the music industry with screenshots of messages from Minaj. “Nicki, you definitely know my contribution to music because you asked for a collaboration twice and didn’t get an answer. You rapped my lyrics on Feeling Myself,” she referred to a song by Minaj in which SZA is credited as a writer. “I don’t know exactly why you’re doing this, but be blessed.”
Also feuds with Megan Thee Stallion, Mariah Carey, and Cardi B
SZA joins a long line of famous female artists who have had problems with Minaj. Fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion also had a feud with Minaj last year. She made a song in which she referred to Megan’s law, a law that ensures that sex offenders are registered. Because Minaj’s husband is registered as a sex offender, she took the lyrics personally and opened the attack on Megan Thee Stallion. For hours on end, she posted posts on X in which she ridiculed her colleague.
She also released a so-called disstrack entitled Big Foot. On this, she makes fun of Megan Thee Stallion because she was shot in the foot in 2020 by fellow rapper Tory Lanez, who is serving a prison sentence because of the shooting incident.
Cardi B has been at odds with Minaj for years. Their rivalry came to a climax during a New York Fashion Week party in 2018. Cardi B accused Minaj of speaking badly about her daughter. She allegedly threw her shoe at Minaj. Cardi B herself left the party with a bump on her head.
Mariah Carey worked with Minaj on the jury of American Idol in 2012, where the two certainly did not get along. It resulted in a shouting match that was filmed and published by TMZ. It was later suggested that Minaj calls Carey a “bitch” in her song Hell Yeah. When Carey was asked about this in an interview, she responded: “I don’t know what she’s singing about. I didn’t know she sings, I thought she rapped, or something.”
Minaj is also at odds with JAY-Z. She recently said on X that she still owes him 200 million dollars (more than 170 million euros) because of TIDAL, the rapper’s streaming platform. JAY-Z has not responded to this. So that quarrel has not been resolved for the time being.