Having disses and roasting-type bars in rap songs is not uncommon. Some take it with a grain of salt and laugh it off. Other times, people take offense at being called out. This remains true at the celebrity level of the rap community, especially when concerned with other celebrities. Two big names in modern rap, Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj, fired up a feud after Megan’s latest single “HISS,” was released on Jan. 26.
With Megan’s third studio album approaching, the female rapper has released “HISS” as her second single following “Cobra.” After the shooting incident between Megan and Tory Lanez, she experienced plenty of ridicule in the entertainment industry over the past few years. In response, Megan starts off the song by rapping “I’m finna get this sh*t off my chest / and lay it to rest, let’s go.” Starting strong, she spends the rest of the song rapping toward multiple people and clapping back at them by telling them to back off.
“HISS” has many clever bars flowing along to a strong beat that only goes to show the talent and creativity of Megan. While the rapper did not name-drop anyone in the song, fans can make connections to various rappers and influential people in the industry. In the second verse, she raps, “These n***** hate on BBLs and be / walking around with the same scars.” This is likely a diss toward Drake insinuating that the rapper himself got a Brazilian butt lift (BBL) after he implied Megan lied about getting shot by Tory Lanez in his song “Circo Loco.”
Despite all the bars calling various rappers out, one line, in particular, stood out the most to listeners and got people talking about the song. In the first verse Megan raps, “These h*es don’t be mad at Megan, / these h*es mad at Megan’s Law.” Megan’s Law is a federal law, which requires information about registered sex offenders to be made public. This lyric seemed to be taking a shot toward Nicki Minaj and her husband, Kenneth Petty. Petty is a level-two registered sex offender in the state of New York after pleading guilty to the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl. The legislation affected him in 2022; he was sentenced to three years of probation and a year of home detention due to his failure to register as a sex offender in California. The lyric takes a general diss toward rappers who are or defend sex offenders.
While many fans enjoyed the shots Megan is taking back at the industry, few rappers found the song distasteful, particularly Nicki Minaj. Almost 20 minutes after “HISS” dropped at midnight, Minaj was quick to jump on X, formerly known as Twitter, and call the rapper out for bringing family into the mix. She also went onto Instagram Live to angrily rant off-screen about the “Hot Girl Summer” rapper. Besides the Live, she spent the rest of the weekend slamming Megan and voicing her displeasure with the song. Minaj would then announce her follow-up song “Big Foot” in response to “HISS” to be released on Monday, Jan. 29.
Nicki Minaj has been in the rap community for a long time and has since released countless iconic songs for listeners to jam out to and get hyped over. As Minaj was endlessly tweeting about Megan, people started to “side-eye” the rapper for seemingly acting out outrageously that they were hesitant at how “Big Foot” would sound. It then turned out that Minaj did not hold back at all in “Big Foot,” channeling all her rage and distaste toward the Houston rapper into the diss track.
From rapping about Megan’s lack of flow to possible alcoholism, as well as calling out her sex life, it seems Minaj struck at her in every corner that she could aim at. However, she hits hardest as she repeats the line “Lyin’ on your dead mama” many times during the song. In 2019, Megan’s mother passed away due to brain cancer and since then she has frequently mentioned how much of an influence her mom had on her career and life. It’s a low blow that many listeners were disappointed at.
While Minaj was calling out Megan on Instagram Live and X, she compared her to Big Foot, which would end up being the title of the diss track. During the song, she raps “Bad b*tch, she like six foot, I / call her Big Foot.” In her altercation with Tory Lanez, Megan was shot in the foot, which Minaj also calls into question in the song. Additionally, her comparison of the rapper and Big Foot targets her relatively tall height of being 5 foot and 10 inches tall. However, the reference gave a connotation of her being a beast and body shaming her. The “Big Foot” rapper ended the track by cutting the beat with a talked monologue, insinuating more diss tracks about Megan Thee Stallion to come.
In comparing the two diss tracks, “HISS” comes out on top. Megan maintained a certain type of finesse when it came to her disses, especially when no one is name-dropped, but rather insinuated. While Minaj does have lyrical skills that she has been famous for her whole career, the deep barbs toward Megan that shame her sexual history and target her late mother crossed boundaries far beyond the typical disses seen in rap battles. Sadly, fans of Minaj have added to the feud by doxxing Megan’s mother’s grave. The precaution was thankfully taken and extra security has been enforced to prevent anyone from damaging the grave. This goes to show how people can take celebrities’ beef with each other to an unnecessary level.
The general reaction from the public has tended to side with Megan more, especially from people feeling Minaj used misogyny to get back at her. They have also viewed Minaj’s overabundant rant on Twitter and her track in response to another track which only made a subtle nameless jab to be excessive. However, there are loyal fans of Minaj who remained on her side to justify not only herself but her family. While both tracks hit the charts, the release of “Big Foot” only launched “HISS” even further, due to listeners favoring the track more. The two female rappers have an already tough battle which will only expand even further.
Verdict: “HISS” and “Big Foot” both contain catchy beats and intense bars that catch listeners by surprise at the lack of remorse. However, “HISS” stands taller out of the two for its clapback to multiple artists and not taking things too harshly.
