Well, that escalated quickly. Nicki Minaj and Remy Ma have been circling each other for some time now, not quite beefing but clearly having some sort of spat despite constant denials, but now names are being named and the beef is officially on.
After Nicki seemed to take a few not-so-thinly veiled shots at Remy on Gucci Mane’s “Make Love” this week Remy wasted no time responding with the scathing diss track “ShETHER.” Over Nas’ “Ether” beat, Remy leaves no mystery about who she’s talking to, opening the track with Nicki’s own voice saying “Free Remy” and adding the Ether-esque “F**k Nicki Minaj” then revealing that she’s punched Nicki before, and that’s all before she raps one bar.
After that it’s six straight minutes of Remy simply going in on Nick, speaking on everything from butt implants, her relationship with Meek Mill, ghostwriters, her record deal, her alleged pedophile brother and so much more. “And I saw Meek at All-Star, he told me your ass dropped/
He couldn’t f**k you for three months because your ass dropped,” she raps at one point. Later she continues the lyrical assault with “And to be the Queen of Rap, you gotta actually rap/ The whole industry know that your sh*t is a wrap/ No, to be the Queen of Rap, you can’t have a ghostwriter.”
https://soundcloud.com/remymamusic/remy-ma-shether
Not only is the whole track brutal, but it also preempts what has always been Nicki’s retort: Popularity. And like clock work Nicki went to Instagram to talk numbers, posting the record sales of Remy’s recent album with Fat Joe Plata O Plomo, and they were underwhelming.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ8d3CAB9EM/
Then Nicki pulled out her Trump Card, none other than Beyonce, by posting a video in which Bey hails Nick the queen of rap.
It’s straight out of the Drake/Jay Z rap beef playbook, in which popularity dictates who you respond to and who you ignore. This is why Joe Budden got mostly ignored by Drake, and why Nicki might try to ignore Remy.
However, judging by the reaction on Twitter, Nicki won’t be able to simply ignore Remy. She’s a formidable challenge, and in the small pool that is female rap, she’s clearly the No. 1 contender to Nicki’s throne, no matter the record sales. Nicki is reacting — and deleting her reaction — on Twitter as well so clearly she’s heard the track, now it’s time to rap.
Check out some of the best Twitter reactions below.
Pappose was in the studio like pic.twitter.com/jOy7dHkodL
— LeTroy Davis (@letroydavis) February 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/912LivingLegend/status/835567944356737024
Nicki, don't Meek this up.
— Issa Rae (@IssaRae) February 25, 2017
you need to be mad at Remy Nicki. 😞
— TreySongz.eth (@TreySongz) February 25, 2017
Nicki be like…..Meek said what? pic.twitter.com/bAsxJ8WxOX
— PF2 💿💕🔥 (@kobebluez) February 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/JoeBudden/status/835582153488490496
https://twitter.com/Mr1738/status/835578457170067457
https://twitter.com/Brazylyfe/status/835562116769787909
https://twitter.com/EvilJeanyis/status/835559909404131331
Meek. It's always Meek, no matter what. https://t.co/cFrgaCIon6
— ZGA (@ZGAplease) February 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/IAM_TBreezy/status/835586269098934275
https://twitter.com/FreshAir_In/status/835585732165140482
https://twitter.com/personaItime/status/835579559982608384
https://twitter.com/MrWesIey/status/835578176273276930
nicki calling remy ma parole officer like 😭👮🏾♀️ pic.twitter.com/36vnRa72uJ
— Davinci 😸 (@ZaddyVinci) February 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/symbolic__1/status/835576565929033731
https://twitter.com/meltedaydream/status/835575097717055490
https://twitter.com/PlainOlCamm/status/835572785233690625
https://twitter.com/ItsAngelG1017/status/835571074460975107