After more than two years of battling with 1501 Certified Entertainment over a 2018 record deal that was below industry standards, Megan Thee Stallion began funding her own music under the entity Hot Girl Productions. Just this week, Warner Music Group has invested in the rapper’s career as an independent artist. This deal will allow Megan to hold the rights to her master recordings and publishing, while Warner and its international affiliates will take care of services, including radio promotion and global marketing. Megan scored this phenomenal deal following the success of her two independent singles, “Cobra” and “Hiss.”
Released in November 2023, “Cobra” marks Megan’s shedding of her past. The song explores dark themes related to alcoholism, self-harm and depression. It packed a punch with verses that left jaws dropped. In continuation with the snake theme, Megan released “Hiss” Jan. 26 and revived her rap alter-ego Tina Snow. With The Breakfast Club, she explained that “Hiss” is meant to be a warning, “telling you to back off.”
Specifically, “Hiss” is speculated to be calling out Drake, an ex-boyfriend (Pardison Fontaine) and Nicki Minaj. Of all the jabs she made, the verse that everyone cannot stop talking about is “These h*es don’t be mad at Megan, these h*es mad at Megan’s law.” Within minutes of the song’s release, Nicki Minaj took to Instagram Live under the assumption that this verse was targeting her. Megan’s law is a reference to the federal law requiring information about sex offenders to be publicized. Minaj’s husband, Kenneth “Zoo” Petty, is affected by this law as he is a level two registered sex offender in the state of New York. He has also been under probation since 2022 for refusing to register himself.
Nicki Minaj may have been more inclined to believe this verse was directly targeting her, due to a simmering tension between herself and Megan Thee Stallion that has existed for years. Though the pair collaborated on “Hot Girl Summer” in 2019, Megan continuously worked with Cardi B. Megan and Cardi released “WAP” in 2020 and “Bongos” in 2021. Both songs were incredibly well-received and became popular TikTok sounds. Since Nicki has publicly expressed her dislike toward Cardi after collaborating on “Motorsport” in 2018, Megan’s allegiance with Cardi was taken personally. This culminated in a mutual unfollowing on Instagram, as well as a handful of negative references to horses in Nicki’s recent releases.
So, it makes sense that once Nicki heard that bar in “Hiss” she felt it was calling her out which led to her quick release of “Big Foot,” one of five diss tracks Nicki has recorded about Megan. The title itself is a dig at Megan’s height and Tory Lanez having shot her in the foot. Nicki’s track lacks the finesse of “Hiss” and only reiterates claims about Megan’s relationship with alcohol and Tory Lanez. After repeating six times that Megan is “lyin on [her] dead mama,” it ends with a one-minute ASMR-y promise to release another installment because Megan “think[s] it’s funny to talk about people’s families.” Minaj’s response to “Hiss” felt half-baked. It does not compare to her past diss tracks, like “Stupid H*e.” A strong diss track should stand on its own as a message to haters, rather than an extremely uncomfortable rant about a specific person’s character.
Once released, “Big Foot” climbed to the top of the charts. However, it is unclear if people were listening in support of or to hate on Nicki. After the release, Barbz (superfans of Nicki Minaj) doxed haters and provoked increased security at Megan’s mother’s gravesite. It also sparked discourse about Minaj’s questionable past which includes sexualized comments toward and dancing with minors.
As of today, Megan Thee Stallion has not responded to “Big Foot.” The only thing close to a response was an Instagram Story post of red tiger lilies from the anime Tokyo Ghoul. In anime, the appearance of red tiger lilies is a symbol that imminent death and misfortune are on the horizon. Thus, this might foreshadow a thought-out and intentional response to “Big Foot” in the near future. Until then, there is no unanimous decision on who has “won” this beef. However, in my opinion, Megan Thee Stallion has come out on top. Aside from the incredible deal with Warner Music Group, most of the internet has responded with wild support. If anything, this beef has attracted more attention to “Hiss,” her upcoming summer album and tour.
