Cardi B vs. Nicki Minaj: An Illustrated Guide to the Greatest Rap Beef of Our Time
The self-proclaimed queen of rap and the belle of the Bronx are at it again. Here’s how it all went down.
Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast
In an iconic Love & Hip Hop: New York scene turned legendary .GIF—later immortalized in her debut mixtape Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1’s “Foreva”—the artist formerly known as Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar explained, “If a girl have beef with me, she gon’ have beef foreva.” Cardi B might be the hottest hit-maker in hip-hop right now, but at the end of the day she’s still as petty as ever—she’s just graduated her drama from the South Bronx to the Harper’s Bazaar ICONS party.
As befitting a chart-topper, Cardi B’s current nemesis is Nicki Minaj, the self-proclaimed Queen of Rap. Throughout her career, Minaj has carefully tended her garden of grudges, asking Miley Cyrus “what’s good” and going back and forth with Remy Ma. But Nicki vs. Cardi is the Kobe beef of celebrity feuds—an extended animosity between two A-listers that reportedly culminated in Cardi B throwing a shoe. This multi-part drama has it all: airborne stilettos, Instagram rants, miscellaneous Love & Hip-Hop stars, and a CVS-length scroll of receipts.
Unfortunately, like all good things, it eventually came to an end this week, with Minaj resolving to “focus on positive things only from here on out” and vowing, “I won’t be discussing this nonsense anymore.”
But that doesn’t mean we can’t!
During a feature on Katy Perry’s “Swish, Swish,” Nicki Minaj references Cardi’s boyfriend Offset and “silly rap beefs.”
Nicki Minaj raps, “Lil’ bitch I heard these labels tryna make another me/ Everything you getting little hoe is ’cause of me.”
Cardi B calls out an unnamed artist during a show, saying, “This bitch, she never fucking liked me…I still don’t like you, bitch.”
In a red carpet interview, Cardi B insists, “I don’t really want problems with anybody,” but adds, “If somebody got a problem I don’t really got to do that whole industry beef. Like, you know, I get it popping with these hands.”
Cardi B once again denies the Nicki Minaj beef, explaining, “She ain’t never fucked my man.”
Nicki Minaj publicly congratulates Cardi B on the record-breaking success of her hit single “Bodak Yellow.”
Drama unfolds when Nicki and Cardi finally appear on the same track, “MotorSport.” When the music video drops, feud-watchers note that the two female rappers never appear onscreen together.
Cardi B calls the rumored beef “Internet-made-up.”
Minaj says that she was hurt by the “MotorSport” drama, and complains that Cardi B has never shown her “genuine love in an interview.”
The two stars are seen making nice at the Met Gala. Cardi B later confirms that they worked out their issues at the event.
Kevin Mazur/MG18 via Getty
Minaj addresses the feud on Queen Radio: “To me, [Cardi] may have taken an issue with things that I’ve said, but I’m not going to bite my tongue…You coming into the wrong game if you want people to kiss your ass and suck your dick all day.”
Cardi responds, “Imagine subbing me but you blocked me from all social media."
Cardi B writes a long Instagram post about the altercation at the Harper’s Bazaar party, beginning, “I’ve let a lot of shit slide! I let you sneak diss me, I let you lie on me, I let you attempt to stop my bags, fuck up the way I eat!” She declares “all bets are off” because Nicki dared question her abilities as a mother. (Footage of the altercation shows Cardi shouting, “Play with me bitch [...] keep fucking playing with me, play with my fucking kid bitch [...] I’ll fuck your ass up.”)
Four days later, Minaj returns to Queen Radio to summarize the situation, describing the fight as “so mortifying,” and denying that she ever said anything about Cardi B’s daughter.
Minaj appears to reignite the back and forth, using her Queen Radio show to level a number of accusations against Cardi, and denying that she leaked the Bronx rapper’s phone number to her rabid Barbz. Cardi B responds on Instagram, threatening to sue Minaj for defamation and claiming that she turned down some opportunities that Minaj picked up. Minaj then dares Cardi to take a lie detector test, as one does. Disses are traded and Cardi apparently shares Minaj’s personal phone number with the world, reminding us all that this feud is ... foreva.
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