Recapping the Biggest Rap Feuds of 2018: Cardi B vs. Nicki Minaj and More

2018 is shaping up to be quite a busy year for rap feuds, marked by diss tracks, snarky online comments and even physical confrontations

By Corinne Heller Sep 14, 2018 6:36 PMTags
Watch: Nicki Minaj Addresses Fight With Cardi B at NYFW

The year 2018 is shaping up to be quite a busy year for rap feuds, marked by diss tracks, snarky online comments and even physical confrontations.

Cardi B made headlines recently when she got into a heated altercation with former collaborator-turned-rival Nicki Minaj at the Harper's Bazaar ICONs party during New York Fashion Week. There was even video footage. No arrests were made and no charges were filed. Cardi later claimed Nicki had made a comment about her baby girl, Kulture, which the latter rapper denied.

"It was so fast!" an eyewitness told E! News at the time. "I heart someone screaming—everyone recognized Cardi's voice—people either got out of the way or took out their phones and started filming. Nicki was surrounded by a bunch of guards and barely even looked at her. Next thing you know, shoes were flying and Cardi was on her way out."

Other rap feuds that took place this year involved Drake, Pusha TKanye WestTravis ScottEnimem and Machine Gun Kelly. Check them out.

Cardi B vs. Nicki Minaj

While Nicki congratulated Cardi over the success of her 2017 debut single "Bodak Yellow" and even teamed up that year for a collaboration, the single "MotorSport," with Migos, Cardi's now-husband Offset's rap group, there were still rumors of bad blood between the two female rappers.

The rumors intensified after "MotorSport" was released, as Nicki and Cardi offered conflicting accounts of how they ended up on the track. Nicki tweeted that only Migos rapper Quavo was initially featured on it and said on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show that Quavo asked her if she thought they should also put Cardi on it and that she agreed, adding, "She begged to be on 'MotorSport.'" Cardi in turn told Capital XTRA radio that Quavo had told her to join the track and that Nicki's verse wasn't finished when she heard it for the first time. Nicki said on Beats 1 that she was later painted as a bad person, which really hurt her, adding, "I really fully supported her and up until this recent interview that she did, I had never seen her show me genuine love in an interview."

Cardi and Nicki later appeared to let bygones be bygones, meeting up at the 2018 Met Gala. But at the Harper's Bazaar ICONS party in September 2018, Cardi and Nicki got into a confrontation. Cardi had lunged at Nicki while she was mingling with guests and began shouting at her. In a leaked video, Cardi can be heard screaming "Bitch, come here" and in another, she threatens, "I will f--k you up!" Social media footage also appeared to show Cardi throwing her red heel at Minaj.

Cardi would later claim that Nicki had mentioned her baby girl Kulture and was "liking" comments about her parenting. Nicki later said on her Queen Radio show that the encounter was "so mortifying and so humiliating to go through," adding, "I would never talk about anyone's child or parenting."

Nicki Minaj vs. Travis Scott

In August 2018, Nicki expressed her outrage on Twitter about how Travis' new album, ASTROWORLD, beat hers, Queen, for the No. 1 spot on the U.S. albums chart and criticized the efforts made to promote him. She tweeted, "I put my blood sweat & tears in writing a dope album only for Travis Scott to have [girlfriend] Kylie Jenner post a tour pass telling ppl to come see her & Stormi," referring to the couple's six-month-old daughter.

"I f--king love Kylie and that's never gonna change," Minaj later said on her Queen Radio show. "I f--king love her, so we're not going to do that. It's obvious she's got to ride with her man—why the f--k wouldn't she? We're not going to make this something this is not. She's not done anything wrong except support her people. She's a dope girl."

In September 2018, Nicki said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she felt like she wanted to punch Travis "in his f--king face" for claiming the No. 1 spot.

"I've had a No. 2 album and I never cared. It's just that when you have a No. 2 album to someone who is selling shirts and merch—and selling passes for a tour that isn't announced yet—it feels like you're being tricked. It feels like someone is playing a game and beating you at a game opposed to just selling music. I want to sell music!" she said. "He didn't have the No. 1 album. Queen was the No. 1 album."

Eminem vs. Machine Gun Kelly

The rappers' beef dates back to 2012, when Kelly reportedly saw a photo of Eminem's then-teenage daughter and tweeted, "Ok so I just saw a picture of Eminem's daughter... and I have to say, she is hot as f--k, in the most respectful way possible cuz Em is king."

Eminem fired back six years later on his track, "Not Alike," rapping, "And I'm talkin' to you, but you already know who the f--k you are, Kelly / I don't use sublims and sure as f--k don't sneak-diss / But keep commenting on my daughter Hailie." Days later, Kelly took aim at Eminem with "Rap Devil," in which he attacked the rapper and claimed he blackballed him from his radio channel, Shade 45.

Eminem then released ""KILLSHOT," which contains the lyrics, "Realized I forgot to call you back / Here's that autograph for your daughter, I wrote it on a Starter cap / Stan, Stan, son, listen, man, dad isn't mad / But how you gonna name yourself after a damn gun and have a man bun?" and "Ow, Kelly, ooh, but I'm 45 and I'm still outselling you / By 29 I had three albums that had blew / Now let's talk about somethin' I don't really do / Go in someone's daughter's mouth stealin' food."

In a 2018 interview with Sway Calloway, Eminem said hefound out about Kelly's comment about Hailie on YouTube, a year after he made it, adding that the remark wasn't why he dissed him in his track.

"The reason that I dissed him is because he got on—first what he said 'I'm the greatest rapper alive since my favorite rapper banned me from Shade 45' or whatever he said, right? Like I'm trying to hinder his career. I don't give a f--k about your career. You think I actually f--king think about you? You know how many f--king rappers are better than you? You're not even in the f--king conversation," Eminem said.

G-Eazy vs. Machine Gun Kelly

In July 2018, Kelly was photographed hanging out with Halsey before she announced that she and G-Eazy split after a year. She and G-Eazy showed PDA onstage more than a month later, signaling a reconciliation, but the male rappers' beef was on.

"Let's just keep it G," Kelly rapped to Funkmaster Flex during a freestyle session on Hot 97 in late August. "Only Eazy I f--k with is E / I seen he dyed his hair and got a hanging earring / I f--ked his girl now he look like me, this s--t is overbearing."

G-Eazy later dropped a Kelly diss track called "Bad Boy," rapping, "MGK please stop trolling me / get over me / You wanna be me, you're mad that you're not as big as me ; I'm everywhere, I'm your nightmare, you can't get rid of me / Call a Uber, turn on the radio, imagine hearing me / 'Him & I's on, mad you're listening to Halsey sing to me" and "Disrespect her again, I'll smack you, I'm not a boy."

Drake vs. Pusha T

The rappers have engaged in a diss track war for a couple of years. Many speculate Drake's 2016 "2 Birds 1 Stone" is a diss track about Pusha T and fellow rappers Meek Mill and Kid Cudi. Pusha T fired back with the 2018 track "Infrared," which mentions Quentin Miller, a rapper many speculate has ghostwritten songs for Drake. Pusha T said on Big Boy's Neighborhood that the  song was a "response" that he "held onto in regards to '2 Birds 1 Stone.'"

Drake then responded with "Duppy Freestyle," which mentions Pusha T's fiancée Virginia Williams.

"Why would you mention my fiancée? No women, no children," Pusha T said on the Real 92.3 FM show Big Boy's Neighborhood. "It was sport to me until the fiancée mention...it just rubs me wrong."

Drake also mentions Pusha T's album producer, Kanye West.

"What do you really think of the n---a that's making your beats?" he raps. "I've done things for him I thought that he never would need / Father had to stretch his hands out and get it from me / I pop style for 30 hours, then let him repeat"

Pusha T then posted a photo of Drake in blackface as the cover image for his single "The Story of Adidon." Drake, who rose to fame as a teen actor on Degrassi: The Next Generation, later said on Instagram that the picture was taken in 2007, when he was an actor and working on a project about "young black actors struggling to get roles, being stereotyped and typecast."

"I don't believe it," Pusha T said on Big Boy's Neighborhood. "You are silent on all black issues, Drake. You really are. You don't stand for nothing. You don't. That's just what it is. You have all the platform in the world. You were so passionate back then, no you weren't."

In "The Story of Adidon," Pusha T raps, "Since you name-dropped my fiancée, let 'em know who you chose as your Beyoncé/Sophie knows better, ask your baby mother," referring to Sophie Brussaux, who in 2017 said she had texts proving Drake was her son's father. Drake later admitted on a new track that he has a son but did not name his mother.

Drake vs. Kanye West

In addition to practically name-dropping Kanye on his track "Duppy Lifestyle" in the midst of his feud with Pusha T, Drake also dissed Kanye onstage during a concert in August 2018, changing the lyrics to his own song "Know Yourself" from "Then Kanye dropped / it was polos and backpacks" to "Then Kanye flopped, it was polos and backpacks."

Their beef appeared to be squashed later, as weeks later, Kanye shared an Instagram video of his and Kim Kardashian's eldest daughter North West, 5, singing Drake's "In My Feelings." He also addressed their feud on Twitter and wished him well.

"Since we were building as friends and brothers I should have spoken to Pusha about the Quentin Miller bar," he wrote. "There should have been no songs with my involvement that had any negative energy towards you."

He also said, "I did not have any conversations about your child with Pusha."

Ja Rule vs. 50 Cent

The rappers have been feuding for nearly two decades. 50 Cent (a.k.a Curtis Jackson) alleges it began after Ja Rule falsely accused him of stealing his jewelry and Ja Rule claims it began after 50 Cent confronted him during a video shoot, according to Rolling Stone. 50 Cent also mocked Ja Rule's trademark "It's murdah!" in his 1990 song "Your Life's on the Line." The two later got into a physical confrontation in an Atlanta hotel. In 2000, 50 Cent fought with members of Ja Rule's group Murder Inc in a parking lot, Rolling Stone said.

In January 2018, they reignited their beef again. 50 Cent said on REAL 92.3 L.A.'s Big Boy Neighborhood, when asked if he has seen Ja Rule lately, "I done put him to bed."

"Fun hip-hop FACT: @50cent is P--SY..." Ja Rule replied on Twitter.

When a follower asked whether Ja Rule really wanted to go down this road again, he  replied, "Yeah I do @50cent got beat up, stabbed and shot what do you remember???"

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