Through shady interviews, sneak disses in tracks, and subs on social media, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B have been waging a cold war for years. But things turned nuclear on Tuesday, September 30th, when the two traded personal and ugly insults on X."
So how exactly did we get here? Was it Nicki’s obsession with being the queen of rap? Is Cardi too sensitive? Below we revisit the history of Cardi B and Nicki’s long simmering feud and the events that led us here.
June 2017: Cardi B joins Remy Ma at Summer Jam
There’s debate on when the feud between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B began. While some believe it started as early as March 2017, it’s likely that part of the reason Nicki didn’t welcome the young rapper into the scene with open arms is Cardi’s appearance during Remy Ma’s 2017 performance at Hot 97’s Summer Jam festival.
The performance came in the heat of Nicki’s feud with Remy, as Cardi B joined a procession of other women rappers to perform “U.N.I.T.Y.,” before Remy delivered a performance of her Nicki diss track “ShETHER” complete with a picture of Nicki behind her.
August 2017: Nicki denies subbing Cardi on “No Flags”
In August 2017, Nicki Minaj appeared on London on da Track’s single “No Flags” alongside Cardi’s boo at the time Offset and 21 Savage. On it, she rapped: "Lil’ bitch I heard these labels tryna make another me/Everything you getting little hoe is 'cause of me."
People immediately began speculating that Nicki was taking shots at the former Love & Hip Hop star, but she quickly denied those claims.
September 2017: Cardi featured on “No Limit,” denies beef on The Breakfast Club
In an interview with The Breakfast Club, Charlamagne and DJ Envy prodded Cardi B about the alleged beef she had with Nicki. The question followed rumors circulating that Belcalis was dissing Nicki in her feature on G-Eazy’s “No Limit.” “Can you stop with all the subs?/Bitch, I ain’t Jared,” she rapped.
Cardi denied they had any problems saying, "We just conversated man. And that's it." She also brushed off the “No Limit” rumor by explaining, “People don’t understand that I got beef with 10 bitches in the hood, and I still be in the hood.”
September 25, 2017: Cardi B makes history with No. 1 song “Bodak Yellow”
In the fall of 2017, Cardi B broke the first of her many records by becoming the second female rapper with a No. 1 hit song on the Billboard Hot 100, thanks to “Bodak Yellow.” Lauryn Hill accomplished the feat with "Doo Wop (That Thing)" back in 1998.
After the news broke, Nicki Minaj congratulated Cardi on the No. 1 hit, praising her on X.
October 2017: Migos drops “MotorSport” featuring Nicki and Cardi
It was a blessing and a curse when Migos dropped “Motorsport,” a dope track featuring both Nicki and Cardi. Despite both rappers consistently denying their feud, people began speculating they were sneak dissing each other on the same song.
Still, the two women steered clear of the rumors. “I feel like people wouldn’t even be satisfied if me and her was making out on a freaking photo,” Cardi told Complex later that month. "I feel like people just want that drama because it's entertaining."
Nicki also denied the beef in a series of tweets she later deleted. “These are men in our culture who simply refuse to let it go,” she tweeted of the alleged conflict. “They don’t do this to male M.C.’s.”
November 2017: “MotorSport” video comes out
Eventually, the video for “MotorSport” comes out and it’s quickly apparent that Nicki did not shoot on the same day as Migos or Cardi. This stokes more rumors that the two have beef, though Nicki later claims it's because her hairstylist wasn't available the original day of the shoot.
When asked about it in one interview in November, Cardi B dances around the question awkwardly, while also revealing that Nicki’s original song on the track was different.
The next day, Nicki fires off the following tweet.
April 5, 2018: Cardi B releases her debut album Invasion of Privacy
The winter goes by quietly, as Cardi and Nicki both seem to be in complete album mode, gearing up for 2018 album releases. Cardi’s comes first. Her debut Invasion of Privacy drops and receives critical praise, landing at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Hours before her album comes out, Beats 1 releases an interview of Cardi where she tells Ebro her beef with Nicki is completely made up. "I just feel like it's really internet made-up," she says. "I really feel like fans and people really want to see that happen because it's really entertaining. To see people beef is entertaining."
A few days later, we learn on Saturday Night Live that Cardi is pregnant, and all seems well for the newly bonafide star.
April 12, 2018: Nicki’s releases two singles and tells Zane Lowe Cardi never showed her “genuine” love
Following Invasion of Privacy, Nicki releases “Chun-Li” and “Barbie Tingz,” the first singles from her album Queen, which she would later announce. To debut the singles, Nicki heads over to Zane Lowe’s show on Beats 1.
During her interview with Zane, Nicki finally addresses what’s been bubbling under the surface all these months. "The only thing that Cardi did that really hurt my feelings was the first interview after 'Motorsport' came out,” Nicki said. “It just really hurt me because the only thing she kept saying was, 'I didn't hear that verse. She changed her verse.'"
"I kind of felt ambushed,” Nicki continued, while getting visibly upset. She also said Quavo "didn't back [her] up" on the story of how the record came about, which prompted the Barbs to swarm the Migos rapper.
Nicki went on to explain that her hairdresser had a scheduling conflict the day of the “MotorSport” shoot, but that Migos and Cardi kept quiet when rumors about the beef escalated. “All of them allowed me to look like I lied and even with the scheduling conflict, she’s using my hairdresser now, so even he can attest to the fact that there was a scheduling conflict,” she said.
“I really fully supported her and up until this recent interview I had never seen her show me genuine love in an interview,” she said, referring to Cardi’s conversation with Ebro. “I can just imagine how many girls wish they could of been on a song with Nicki Minaj. I’m not saying it in a cocky way.”
Coincidentally, Nicki’s original verse on “MotorSport” leaked the same day as her interview, revealing she had referenced Cardi:
The final version replaced Cardi’s name with Quavo, and it’s still unclear if it was meant to be shade or a shout out. Nicki later tweeted that she changed the verse per Atlantic’s request.
May 7, 2018: The Met Gala
Despite Nicki’s Beats 1 interview, photographers capture the two rappers having a cordial moment on the red carpet during the 2018 Met Gala. Once again, things seem fine.
Later in May on the Howard Stern show, Cardi explains that the two rappers talked things out at the Met Gala. “I never was feuding with anybody. There was a misunderstanding. She felt a certain type of way about something and I definitely felt a certain type of way about something. Didn’t want to ever talk about it in public because I felt like we gonna see each other again and we will talk about it," the Bronx native quipped. "It’s always little issues but the thing is, fans are always gonna make it a big thing. I spoke to her about it. It’s just like, see? It was just something that it had to be talked about."
August 10, 2018: Nicki releases Queen
In August, Nicki Minaj finally releases her album Queen, which includes her opening track "Ganja Burns." Not long after the drop, fans are convinced the slow burn is a diss aimed at Cardi. "Unlike a lot of these hoes whether wack or lit/At least I can say I wrote every rap I spit," she raps, allegedly addressing the idea that Cardi does not write a lot of her lyrics.
Instead of celebrating, Nicki spends the days after Queen's release feuding with multiple people, including DJ Self, who she claims tried to feed her negative gossip about Cardi B. Self later denies it.
“He was just up there dissin the btch thinking that would make me fuk wit him. Lmao. Jokes on you once again dummy. Passed up on ya meal tkt now u get crumbs from her table. Ur a reality tv hoe. Used to be a respected DJ," she wrote in a series of now deleted tweets.
On Aug. 16, Nicki is interviewed by Ebro on Beats 1, and of course he asks about the Cardi beef. “Now, I didn’t know Cardi and I had an issue, but I guess we do since you’re saying it and other people are saying it,” she said, after trying to dismiss the question. “To me, she may have taken an issue with things that I’ve said, but I’m not going to bite my tongue.... You gotta have thick skin. People talk shit about me all the time.... You can’t be expect to be liked and loved and praised all the fuckin’ time. Give me a break.”
August 19, 2018: 'Queen' lands at No. 2
All hell seems to break loose after Queen lands in the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 chart behind Travis Scott’s ASTROWORLD. Onika immediately responds to the news by going on a tweetstorm criticizing Travis for selling his album in tour and merch bundles (though she used similar tactics) and calling out Spotify for heavily promoting Drake instead of her. Nicki would go on to give Travis the "Hoe N***a of the Week" award on her Queen Radio show.
September 8, 2018: Cardi attempts to fight Nicki at NYFW
Finally, the culmination of over a year of sneak dissing, shady interviews, and rumored beef comes to a head. News that Cardi B and Nicki got into a physical fight at the Harper’s Bazaar Icons party during NYFW flooded timelines on Sept. 8 with video and photos of the incident. In one, Cardi appears to have a giant lump on her head following the fight.
In some videos, Cardi can be scene taking off her shoe to throw it. In another, she’s being held back while yelling "Play with me bitch...keep fucking playing with me, play with my fucking kid bitch...I'll fuck your ass up,” while Nicki is protected by security.
According to TMZ, the fight broke out after Cardi approached Nicki's table "to address the lies Nicki was spreading.” She was reportedly met with an elbow to the face as security attempted to halt the “I Like It” rapper, and Nicki’s friend Rah Ali apparently also go involved in the scuffle.
Cardi was eventually escorted out of the event, and went on Instagram to address the altercation without directly mentioning Nicki. "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," Cardi wrote. "You've threaten other artists in the industry, told them if they work with me you'll stop fuckin with them!! I let you talk big shit about me!!"
September 10, 2018: Nicki Minaj addresses NFYW fight on Queen Radio
Things were initially quiet on Nicki's end following the NYFW incident. Ms. Minaj waited until her eighth episode of Queen Radio on the following Monday to address the altercation, and when she did, she went in.
Nicki started off the discussion by playing a clip of Cardi B during an interview she did in 2017 with Fader. In the clip, Cardi explains that "nothing is off limits" when she claps back at people, even their children. "I hate when some people come at me like, 'Why you coming at kids for,'" Cardi can be heard saying. "I'm my mother's baby."
The reason Nicki played this clip is pretty obvious. In her Instagram post following their fight, Cardi indirectly claims Nicki talked about her daughter Kulture and her parenting skills. The clip is aimed at highlighting hypocrisy in that accusation, while the Queen rapper also denied ever saying anything about Cardi's daughter. "I would never talk about anyone’s child or anyone’s parenting,” she said. “And it’s so crazy to me that people always need to make Onika the bad guy...I am not a clown. That’s clown shit.”
"You knew that when that footage came out you would look dumb,” Nicki continued, explaining why Cardi and her team would make up the accusation. “I didn’t even feel the need to defend myself that night. ...She has built her career off of sympathy and payola."
Nicki denied ever stopping bags from coming Cardi's way, and actually accused her of more than a few things, including attacking a woman on Instagram whose child died, and calling the child a "monkey." She called out Cardi for previously referring to darker skinned black women as roaches, and alleged that Cardi actually threatened a male rapper to not shoot a video with her.
"The lord gave you a blessing with a bundle of joy and the only thing on your mind was to attack people and to stop their bags," Nicki said, after suggesting Cardi might have postpartum depression. "Who are you angry at sweetheart?"
Nicki also brought on her friend Rah, who was involved in the NYFW brawl. They spent a good amount of time talking about the two women who are reportedly planning to sue Cardi B for allegedly organizing physical attacks on them. In the conversation, the women dragged Offset and blamed him for being the reason Cardi is so pressed, since Cardi reportedly thinks one of the victims slept with her husband.
October 28, 2018: The Leak, Allegedly
Cardi’s sister Hennessey Carolina went on social media to accuse Nicki of leaking Cardi’s phone number to the Barbz, leading to a barrage of hateful messages. “She leaked my sisters [sic] number to her fan pages,” Hennessey wrote.
October 29, 2018: "What Type of Bird Shit You Talking About?"
Nicki returned to Queen Radio, and unleashed a long monologue about Cardi, the fight, music, and pretty much everything else.
When it came to the fight, Minaj said that her friend Rah Ali did serious damage to Cardi (as opposed to Cardi’s telling, where security was to blame), and that there was footage to back that up. “Rah beat Cardi's ass really bad,” Nicki said. “Rah beat you so bad that I was mad at Rah.”
Minaj also denied leaking Cardi’s phone number (“What type of bird shit you on, bitch?” she asked incredulously), and said that she had asked Cardi to collaborate, but got turned down. Nicki also claimed that she had been offered—and turned down—Cardi’s Fashion Nova deal, and offered to take a lie detector test to bolster all of her claims.
In more fashion news, Wilhelmina CEO Bill Wackerman took Nicki’s side, disputing Cardi’s claim that Nicki was Diesel’s second choice (behind her) to be the face of their Fashion Week campaign.
October 29, 2018: Cardi Fires Back
In a series of 10 (!) Instagram videos, Cardi laid out her rebuttal. A list of key takeaways:
- If she was getting beaten so badly by Rah Ali, why hasn’t any video of that surfaced yet? As Cardi memorably puts it, there was “so much footages” of the party and the fight.
- Cardi cops to demanding that Nicki change her verse on “Motorsport,” saying that she refused to shoot the video unless the now-infamous “Nick Lombardi” line was changed.
- Cardi claims that Nicki turned down a chance to be on “No Limit,” and then turned around and got upset at her management after it became a hit.
- Cardi attacked payola claims, pointing out that her single “Money,” even before it was delivered to radio, was charting on iTunes—the same company that hosts Queen Radio.
- Cardi claimed that Nicki was responsible for the phone number leak. It happened one hour after their fight, Cardi said. Adding to the circumstantial evidence, Cardi said that neither her new number nor her sister’s number had been leaked, and that no one in Nicki’s camp had either one. “How come everybody that y’all have issues with, and y’all got the numbers in y’all camp, they numbers got leaked?” Cardi asked.
- Cardi claims that Nicki endorses her fans’ “sick-ass fucking behavior” by liking Twitter posts that advocate harassing Minaj’s enemies.
- Cardi denied telling 21 Savage not to shoot a video for “No Flag.” Instead, she says, the song just wasn’t doing well.
All of this back-and-forth ended later that night in a truce...for now.
November 2018: The Beef Returns
It didn't take long for Nicki and Cardi to fall back into their longstanding feud. A couple weeks into their "truce," things went south when 6ix9ine allegedly hired the two women suing Cardi for a music video featuring Nicki and Kanye West. The video was never finished but this move made it obvious the beef was still bubbling underneath the surface.
Then, two weeks later, Nicki allegedly sneak-dissed Cardi once again in her verse for “MAMA” on 6ix9ine’s debut album DUMMY BOY. She raps: “I was out in Spain rockin’ a Medusa head/I ain’t never have to give a rap producer head/If I do, though, I’ma write a book like Supahead/This ain’t wonder that I’m makin’, this that super bread/Splish, splash, fuck him in a hurry, quick, fast.”
Fans of both rappers tried to put two and two together after Cardi “responded” to the verse by denying she ever slept with DJ Self, her former co-star on Love & Hip Hop. It's possible the lyric breakdown is a stretch, but worth noting.
Just a few days later, Nicki decided to take notes from her "FEFE" collaborator by casting the two women planning to sue Cardi, Baddie Gi and Jade, to star in her music video for “Good Form." She even tagged them in a photo on her IG promoting the new video.
On top of that, Meek Mill's album CHAMPIONSHIPS dropped the next day, and the track "On Me" features Cardi. Nicki may feel some type of way about her nemesis teaming up with her ex, even though Meek told Beats 1 he has no stake in their beef.
September 2023: The husbands join the feud
Nicki and Cardi both showed up to the 2023 MTV VMA’s. This was the first time they were under the same roof in years. There was footage of Nicki, who was the host, seemingly mad at someone. And Cardi sent out the following post on X.
This lead to a situation where Nicki's husband, Kenneth Petty, posted a video outside a hotel Offset was at in New York, suggesting they link. Offset responded laughing, since he was flying to Atlanta to stream with Kai Cenat at the time.
August 15th: Cardi B releases “Imaginary Playerz”
Things were pretty quiet between the two. And then Cardi’s Am I the Drama? rollout started. One of the lead singles from the album is “Imaginary Playerz,” in which Cardi B raps the following: “Striped like Thom Browne, these bitches should calm down.” The line could be read as a direct call-out to Nicki, who wore a striped Thom Browne dress at the Met Gala in 2025.
There are also some other lines that sound Nicki-coded, including: “Now your 15 up, you already out of time / I'm a legend, they gon' hang my heels from the power lines.”
September 19th: Cardi B releases Am I the Drama?
After a seven years, Cardi B finally returned with her sophomore album, Am I the Drama? in September. There are several tracks where it sounds like she is sending subliminal shots at Nicki Minaj. The first is “DEAD,” featuring Summer Walker, where Cardi raps:
“Guess who doing shows for damn near free and pockets hurting?”
This line directly nods to celebrity blogger @itsKenBarbie’s 2024 tweet about Nicki Minaj being in debt for her Pink Friday tour. In the tweet, Ken jeered at Nicki, saying:
“You blew your advance from your last tour and now this tour is collateral, so you’re literally bout to tour for free cause you owe Uncle Sam money.”
September 24th: Cardi addresses Nicki on the Call Her Daddy podcast
On the podcast, Cardi addressed the long-standing conspiracy theory that she was “chosen” to enter the industry to compete with and eventually replace Nicki Minaj. This rumor circulated online when Cardi first gained buzz a few years back.
Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper asked Cardi:
“You recently said, as you have been lately also alluding to, that there are some female rappers in the industry that cannot stand you. Why do you think that is?”
Cardi responded:
“People have made this whole story that I came in the industry to like take over somebody's career or like make them think, but it's like I never thought about—I never thought that. It's nothing more than just people didn't get along with each other and that's just that. But I'm done with that. I'm so done with that. I think it's more of a fan thing.”
September 28th: Nicki Minaj responds to Cardi’s first-week sales
Cardi B’s first-week sales arrived with 200,000 units sold, topping the Billboard Chart. Nicki threw shade by reposting tweets that claimed she was still the highest-selling female rapper of the decade.
September 29th: Nicki and Cardi go at one another on Twitter
After announcing her album on X—slated for release on March 27, 2026—Nicki became increasingly active.
Nicki began firing off a series of now-deleted tweets, starting with a cryptic message:
"To every enabler:
Never provoke a writer while they're ✍️
You joined the game as a willing participant. Don't try to back out now.
3.27.26
#RocBottomNation #RocInflation #RicoNation you failed.
Let the reindeer games begin. We #WinAgain."
She then tweeted “4.99” to call out Cardi for discounting her album to boost sales, implying she was struggling to move units. She also started calling Cardi “Barney B,” comparing her to the children’s TV character known for simple rhymes. She also mocked Cardi’s line from “Magnet”:
“A-B-C-D-E-F-G (Grr), these bitches can't fuck with me.”
Cardi would clap back on Twitter, amidst these tweets with her own series of responses, which became increasingly venomous and personal. She flipped her own “Magnet” bar to bring up Nicki’s husband’s sex crime charges:
At one point, Cardi pointed out the generational gap between the two:
Cardi also fired back after Nicki mocked her pregnancy body, alleging Nicki had fertility issues due to drug abuse:
September 30th 2025: Ice Spice and JT chime in
Amidst the drama, an audio clip of a phone call of Cardi crashing out on Ice Spice’s manager James Rosemond Jr. surfaced. In the recording, Cardi is threatening to beat up Ice, likely over lines featured on “BB Belt.” She also claimed she would stand up to Ice, unlike Latto—whose tension with Ice has cooled.
September 30th: Nicki claps back once again and calls up the Barbz to join in
Am I the Drama? Is projected to move around 80,000 units in its second week. Not a bad number. But of course, Nicki would have something to say about this. She would repost multiple posts on X stating that she is the only female artist to sell 100,000 units in the second week in the past decade.
Eventually, Nicki put out a lengthy response going after Cardi for comments talking about fertility issues. She even brought her ongoing feud with Roc Nation and Desiree Perez into the crossfire. She called out Cardi for her pregnancies, and claims that she “sold her soul” for fame. Nicki also made sure to emphasize that her pregnancy was planned and her reproductive health is intact.
“Is I’m da Barney B AND the FLOP? is I’m lying about fertility when the Queen has never once seen or spoken to a fertility doctor In her life? Is I’m the one sleeping with trade while hubby fuckin sweetie & taking my big gewy hole for alimony? Is I’m going to be sued when the Queen show her medical records to the courts? Oh ROC BOTTOM NATION WE WIN AGAIN. Desiree I have your medical records too. :). the lawyers said we gon have Barney b homeless within 36 months. Praise God. lucky we eating cake right now.”
She continued to double down on the fertility point, posting:
“Also let me say this, tho I have never had fertility issues, it’s not something to be used as a drag. Until you know the women who are actually living that pain, blaming themselves—we could only imagine & pray for them, love them, uplift them. Not use these women as a punch line”
In 2023, Nicki declared that the Barbz can no longer “threaten people on her behalf,” on her Instagram story. But she finally gave her fans the “green light” to retaliate against Cardi. She responded to a post saying, “Can we drag again or we still on blackout?” where Nicki responded “Yall got 15 mins. Green light.”
Fans would continue posting all kinds of insults against Cardi, including more Barney pictures. Nicki herself would post another Barney picture too—this time paired with an ominous message about Cardi having seizure after their encounter in 2018.
This would lead to one of the wildest social media back and forths between two rappers—one in which neither directly tagged each other. Nicki and Cardi would cut deep into each other’s personal lives—even referencing each other’s children. Cardi started it off by telling Nicki to actually celebrate her son’s birthday instead of feuding with her on X.
Nicki fired back by targeting Cardi’s daughter, Kulture, after Cardi had brought up her own son’s birthday. Nicki then took it even further, calling her “ugly.” Nicki also announced she was in NYC asking Cardi to possibly see her in-person, and that she was not scared to face Cardi in a physical altercation.
Cardi retaliated to Nicki’s insults about Kulture, referring to her son as “nonverbal.”
Nicki responded by taunting Cardi B more, going after Cardi’s dad—accusing him of being a coke addict. She then proceeded to refer to Kulture as a “roach” and a “monkey,” now involving Cardi’s youngest daughter Blossom in the fray.
Cardi responded by saying she wanted to link with Nicki in-person. Cardi escalated the entire feud by claiming Nicki is just projecting her trauma on to others—referring to abuse Nicki has opened up about over the past few years.
Cardi would go after Nicki’s son Papa Bear, doubling down on the insults about her son’s brain development.
October 1: Cardi B makes the last verbal threats
After a tense 24 hours—where Nicki sent more nasty posts about Kulture—Cardi B has tried to put an end to the back and forth. She sent out one long post, where she wrote "I gotta see you" before talking about alleged abuse.
For her part, Nicki kept on posting through it, sending more shots at Cardi before sending her wrath at Jay-Z and Roc Nation.
This Story was updated on October 1st, 2025.