Megan Thee Stallion addresses beef with Nicki Minaj: 'Don't know what the problem is'
Edward Segarra, USA TODAY
September 4, 2024 at 11:53 PM
Megan Thee Stallion doesn't just have bars. She has an unapologetic bite.
The hip-hop star, who ignited a musical feud with "Hot Girl Summer" collaborator Nicki Minaj earlier this year, opened up about her relationship with Minaj in an interview with Billboard published Wednesday.
"I still to this day don't know what the problem is," Megan said. "I don't even know what could be reconciled because I, to this day, don't know what the problem is."
In February, Megan topped the Billboard Hot 100 with the scathing diss track "Hiss," which saw the Grammy-winning emcee allegedly take aim at Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty. In one lyric, Megan references the sex offender legislation Megan's Law (Petty was convicted of attempted first-degree rape in 1995, while Minaj's brother Jelani Maraj is also a registered sex offender.)
Minaj fired back with her own song "Big Foot." The snarky track is filled with barbs that skewer Megan's personal life, including the death of Megan's mother, Holly Thomas, and Megan's injuries from fellow rapper Tory Lanez shooting her in the feet in July 2020.
Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj feud: Rapper throws shade with chart-topper 'Hiss'
Megan and Minaj's feud wasn't the only hip-hop rivalry to surface this year. Drake and Kendrick Lamar faced off in a series of diss tracks this past spring.
"I would like to think that I start things. I don't know; I just knew what I had to do and what I had to say," Megan said. "If it opened up the door for everyone else to get (stuff) off their chest, well, I'm glad."
Megan Thee Stallion talks Cardi B, GloRilla friendship
Megan Thee Stallion also opened up about her hip-hop sisterhood with Cardi B and GloRilla.
Megan and Cardi famously scored Hot 100 gold in 2020 with their raunchy banger "WAP" and followed it up with "Bongos" in 2023. Meanwhile, Megan and GloRilla hit the stage together at the 2024 BET Awards in June to perform their collaboration "Wanna Be." (GloRilla is also featured on Megan's song "Accent," taken from her latest album "Megan.")
"In the industry, you really don't meet a lot of girls who want to see you be successful," Megan said. "Music is competition. Rap is a competition, but those two ladies, I feel like we all like to see each other do good things. We like to see each other win."
During a May performance at Madison Square Garden on her Hot Girl Summer Tour, Megan brought out her opening act GloRilla for a joint performance with special guest Cardi B.
"Sharing the stage with people that want to see you do good and you want to see them do good, it felt very uplifting," Megan said. "I felt like we were feeding off each other. I felt like we helped each other. Being onstage with them made me feel good because I knew we were proud of each other."
Megan Thee Stallion feels 'so blessed' with Kamala Harris' presidential run
Megan Thee Stallion got on her soapbox to share her love for vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
With her nomination, Harris made history as the first Black woman and first Asian American from a major party to win that designation.
"To be alive in a lifetime where a Black woman or a woman at all could be the president, I feel so blessed. This is what the future is about," Megan said. "We really about to get a strong, Black female in there."
'Fake Mad': Megan Thee Stallion hits back at Kamala Harris rally performance critics
The "Body" emcee campaigned for Harris in person when she performed at the vice president's July rally in Atlanta. "I want to start off by saying: Hotties for Harris," Megan said before launching into a compilation of her songs.
"I feel like America needed a woman to come in here and put a woman's touch on it," Megan told Billboard of Harris. "It's been going a little crazy lately, and we need somebody to put their foot down. I feel like Kamala, she gon' do that."
Contributing: Jay Stahl, Rebecca Morin, Joey Garrison, Taijuan Moorman and KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Megan Thee Stallion talks Nicki Minaj feud, Cardi B friendship