Megan Thee Stallion dropped her electrifying new song “Hiss” on Friday — a fiery diss track that takes aim at the haters and critics she’s encountered throughout her career.
She playfully name-drops Mariah Carey and Kris Jenner on the track, but there are pointed references to Drake and her ex-boyfriend, Tory Lanez. However, her lyrics seemed to sting Nicki Minaj the most.
“Hiss” has surged up streaming charts since its release on Friday, Jan. 26, with over 5 million plays on Spotify. It has caused a stir in the rap community and sparked a social media frenzy among Minaj’s fans, who allege that Megan directly insulted her on the track.
Minaj, who dropped her album, “Pink Friday 2,” almost two months ago, has been one of the loudest critics of Megan’s song. She went as far as recording her own response diss track called “Big Foot,” which has similarly climbed the streaming charts since its release on Monday.
Minaj has threatened to release more songs aimed at affecting Megan’s career unless she apologizes for her statements on “Hiss.”
Here’s what we know so far about the feud.
What is ‘Hiss’ about?
Megan doesn’t hold back on “Hiss.” In an interview on “The Breakfast Club” on Friday, she explained that “Hiss” is about anyone using her name to gain attention online.
“When a snake feels like you’ve been playing and doing a whole bunch of swaying, it’s basically telling you to back off. I hear you, I see you, get up off me now,” she said. “Basically, that’s what it means.”
“I’m saying, a hit dog gon’ holler. That’s it. Whoever feels it, feels it,” she added.
Megan Thee Stallion addresses a number of challenges she has faced while working in the industry. She also referenced what critics said about her former relationship with rapper Tory Lanez.
Does Megan Thee Stallion reference Nicki Minaj?
Although no names were mentioned in the song, several “Hiss” lyrics seem to reference Minaj as well. One line, fans say, appears to be aimed at Minaj’s family: “These h—s don’t be mad at Megan, these h—s mad at Megan’s Law.”
“Megan’s Law” could be a reference to a federal law that requires police to share information with the public about convicted and registered sex offenders. It was named after Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old who was raped and killed in 1994 by her neighbor, a convicted child molester. In the wake of Megan Kanka’s death, her family campaigned for a law that would require police to notify communities about sex offenders, emphasizing that they would not have let their daughter cross the street if they had known about their neighbor’s past.
It seems that Minaj, and many on social media, believed the diss to be directed at Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty — a registered sex offender who served four years in prison after he was convicted of attempted rape in 1995 and was placed on probation in 2022 for failing to register as a sex offender in California.