In Nicki Minaj-Megan Thee Stallion feud, nods to Megan’s Law become diss track fodder
Megan Thee Stallion‘s newest single, “Hiss,†boasts biting lyrics that hyped up her fans. The father of murder victim Megan Kanka was not among them.
New Jersey resident Richard Kanka reportedly is “fuming†over the rapper’s latest song, which mentions Megan’s Law, a 1996 federal law mandating public disclosure about convicted and registered sex offenders. The law was named after his 7-year-old daughter, who was raped and killed in 1994 by a twice-convicted sex offender who had moved into her New Jersey neighborhood.
The “Hiss†lyrics in question: “These h— don’t be mad at Megan, these h— mad at Megan’s Law.â€
Megan Thee Stallion releases ‘Cobra,’ her first single since shedding her old label. The song goes into her struggles with depression and anxiety.
TMZ reported Tuesday that Kanka wasn’t a fan of the “Hot Girl Summer†rapper “dragging his late daughter’s name†into her explicit track. Kanka said that Megan Thee Stallion’s reference was “highly offensive to the pain his daughter and family felt,†according to the website.
Kanka did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment on Tuesday.
After “Hiss†dropped last week, rap fans speculated that the 28-year-old Grammy winner’s lyrics were aimed at fellow rapper Nicki Minaj. The “Pink Friday†artist, 41, is married to Kenneth Petty, who in 1995 was convicted in New York of the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl.
Petty served a four-year prison sentence for that conviction and is required to register as a sex offender wherever he lives. But in 2022, he failed to register in California as a sex offender and was sentenced to house arrest. His sentence was extended in September 2023 after he threatened rapper Offset on social media.
Nicki Minaj released her fifth studio album, “Pink Friday 2,†Friday. In celebration, fans created an AI-generated city named “Gag City.â€
“Hiss†did not directly name Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hot Girl Summer†collaborator Minaj — nor the core of their alleged beef — but it seems the latter took the Megan’s Law lyric personally. Hours after the song dropped on Friday, Minaj tweeted a graphic line describing what her rival allegedly would do for a “free beat.â€
On Friday, Minaj released “Big Foot,†an expletive-laden response to “Hiss.†Firing back at Megan Thee Stallion, Minaj resorted to low-hanging fruit — including Megan’s romantic relationships, the 2019 death of her mother, her 2020 shooting by Tory Lanez and the media attention surrounding that highly public trial.
“How you go on Gayle King and can’t cry,†Minaj raps.
Megan Thee Stallion spoke with CBS’ Gayle King about a shooting allegedly involving fellow rapper Tory Lanez, who was charged with assaulting her.
Megan Thee Stallion has not yet publicly addressed Minaj’s tweets or “Big Foot.†But on Tuesday, she teased that a new album is in the works and that she will hit the road later this year. Before “Hiss,†her last single was “Cobra,†released in 2023.
“Oh we’re having the tour this year, the Hot Girl Summer Tour is going to be 2024 summertime,†she announced on “Good Morning America.†“I feel like I’ve never been able to be outside doing my own thing during the summer since 2019. This is going to be the first time that I drop an album on time for the summer.â€
She added: “I do want to give the Hotties the Megan Thee Stallion experience.â€
Minaj also will tour this year, bringing her latest album, “Pink Friday 2,†to fans across the globe starting in March. She will make one stop in Los Angeles as she headlines Rolling Loud California on March 15.
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