The 14 People Nicki Minaj Should Be Most Afraid Of

Given how ferociously and fiercely she fronts, it's reasonable to think that there are no people Nicki Minaj should be afraid of. Be it in the bars of her raps or in her consistently outspoken social media posts, the "Barbie Dreams" rapper gives the impression that she's capable of taking on just about anyone and everyone — anytime, anywhere. 

Since her colorful breakthrough with the 2010 album "Pink Friday," the Barbie-styled emcee has never been one to hold her tongue. While on one level, Minaj's brazen and fearless manner gave women everywhere some inspiration to speak up for themselves and out against haters, on another, the constant drama surrounding the rapper's personal and professional relationships has also occasionally undermined her career.

So much so that in 2015, The New York Times braved an attempt to ask Minaj whether she "thrives on drama," and the rapper appeared to add the much-respected newspaper to the pages of her overflowing Burn Book. "That's disrespectful," she replied, "Why would a grown-ass woman thrive off drama?" Why, indeed. 

Unfortunately for Minaj, every Regina George has her comeuppance eventually. And though she's been victorious in the majority of her feuds so far, it's only a matter of time until a few of them find a way to leverage some manner of rebuttal. Here are the 14 people Minaj should be most afraid of on that front.

Just as the embers of Nicki Minaj's feud with Lil Kim appeared to be softening into a cozy glow, a raging fire appeared to be blazing in the one she had with Cardi B. In 2017, Minaj was rumored to have proudly dissed Cardi and Offset in her verses for Katy Perry's shade-anthem "Swish Swish," which left the "Bodak Yellow" rapper feeling "hurt and disappointed" as she aired her feelings on IG Live (according to BuzzFeed).

By 2018, tensions between the two reached such a boiling point that they got into a physical altercation at a New York Fashion Week party. Per TMZ, who shared video footage of the ruckus, Cardi was elbowed in the face by Minaj's security and the rapper then threw a shoe at the star. According to the website, the fight stemmed from Cardi alleging that Nicki had been slyly dissing her and making comments about her capabilities as a mother. 

As much as the beef appeared to have cooled between the two, it also never quite ended. In 2021, Jessie Woo from "Love & Hip Hop" spread a rumor that someone from Cardi's team suggested their goal was to "knock Nicki [Minaj] out," in Woo's Hollywood Unlocked interview (via Revolt). Though the "WAP" star denied the accusations in a comment left on Instagram (via The Neighborhood Talk), it's possible that Cardi is still capable of settling their feud once and for all — by dethroning Minaj with her own thriving career.

Like many of Nicki Minaj's feuds, the one she shares with Remy Ma has gone through various viscous twists and turns. As described by The Fader, Remy and Minaj's relationship "went from friendly competition to actual beef" when the "Starships" rapper came for the crown of the self-proclaimed Queen of New York.

After the two artists seemingly took subliminal and more direct swings at each other in the bars of their rhymes, Remy appeared to land a finishing blow with the release of diss-track "ShETHER" in 2017 — a seven-minute slaughter of a song which Complex called "one of the most savage diss tracks ever." Indeed it is, not that Remy feels good about it. Speaking on BuzzFeed's "Another Round" Podcast, the rapper suggested she "wasn't particularly proud" that a song "picking apart another female is what went viral" from her output, and even suggested, "We could've done this working together."

Meanwhile, Minaj issued a retaliation via a handful of lines in the song "No Frauds" alongside her Big 3 pals Drake and Lil Wayne (via E!), but it was a drop in the ocean compared to the tsunami that Remy launched. The OG queen may have her priorities straight where it comes to avoiding unnecessary beef with women, but it's clear that Remy won't put up with being played, either. "In the event that you p*ss me off and we become archenemies, run for cover," she told BuzzFeed's Another Round podcast. Message received.

As outlined by Complex in their comprehensive overview of the decade-long relationship, former Hood$tars group members Safaree Samuels and Nicki Minaj had a troubled love affair, to say the least. In 2011, TMZ shared a police report detailing a physical altercation between the two, in which Samuels was accused of hitting Minaj in the face with a suitcase. 

Three years later, TMZ was reporting that the two had broken up, and by 2015, Samuels was claiming credit for her songwriting. "She doesn't do it by herself," he told "The Breakfast Club," adding, "It's me and her" (via ET). If you know Minaj, then you know that's a bear you don't poke. The emcee not only denied the suggestion while in conversation with Funk Flex for Hot 97, but also insinuated that Samuels had said it out of "weakness and passive aggression." And why? Because he allegedly "got caught" stealing her credit cards to hire sex workers with. 

Naturally, the two wound up exchanging more words with each other on Twitter afterwards, with Samuels landing a final jab by suggesting he "almost died" once after Minaj "cut" him — an allegation weirdly backed up by a TMZ reporter who alleged he'd seen video footage of Minaj "chasing [Samuels] with a knife" (via Complex). Said video has never surfaced, and Samuels has likewise never pressed charges for the alleged violence. Whether that'll remain the case is another question entirely. 

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In 2015, Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" and Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" were two of the most talked-about music videos of the year. They also happened to bop at different ends of a complicated dance hall called feminism. While Minaj powerfully reclaimed Sir Mix-A-Lot's legendary "Baby Got Back" with a video celebrating female empowerment via a body-ody-ody, Swift used action movie tropes to make a statement about girl squads as a superpower. 

Then the MTV Video Music Awards happened and failed to nominate "Anaconda" for video of the year alongside "Bad Blood," and all hell broke loose. Minaj made a series of posts on Twitter sharing her outrage about the nominees solely featuring "women with very slim bodies." Swift took it personally, lashed out, and then apologized when Minaj made it clear it wasn't about her (via PopSugar).  

Seemingly about everything and nothing, the feud ended as soon as it began. Or did it? In 2017 — the same year that Minaj featured on Katy Perry's rumored Swift-diss-track "Swish Swish" — Entertainment Weekly reported there was speculation that Minaj sub-tweeted Swift to "sit down. Be humble," in response to the release of her beefy-bop "Look What You Made Me Do." Swift isn't one to let grudges stay in the past. Particularly not if there's a ten-minute song to be pulled from it. If there is any unresolved beef between the two, the "All Too Well" singer will find a way to address it — even a decade later. 

There isn't digital real estate big enough to comfortably house all the drama that erupted from the newfound solo career of Jesy Nelson in 2021. But the flat-pack version is this: The former Little Mix star was allegedly accused of blackfishing — wherein someone who is not Black fraudulently appropriates Black culture for their personal identity or style — by former bandmate Leigh-Ann Pinnock.

As reported by W, Nicki Minaj — who was a guest on Nelson's solo song "Boyz" — joined the British singer for an Instagram Live session where she criticized Pinnock for her "attack" on Nelson. "All of a sudden she's not in a video with you, you have some negative, evil thing to do and say? Stop," she said during the stream. Minaj's full tirade saw the rapper being labeled a "hypocrite" online due to her seemingly defending Nelson for the same behavior she once criticized Miley Cyrus for.

Considering her history for diss tracks and beef, it was strange to see Minaj on Twitter accusing Pinnock of encouraging people to bully Nelson, a person who "has been suicidal from bullying in the past." Despite being accused of having waited a "decade" to address Nelson's cultural issues, Little Mix explained to The Telegraph that they'd previously approached Nelson "in a very friendly, educational manner" to deal with "the blackfishing situation" before she left the band in 2020. As for Minaj? They appear to be keeping a dignified silence about her — for now. 

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

Spare a thought for poor Jessie J. In 2021, the British singer had the audacity to suggest that "Bang Bang," her 2014 hit collaboration with Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, was something that the rapper was excited about being in on. "Nicki was played it in the studio," she told Glamour, "and was like, 'I've got to jump on this.'" Minaj told a different story, however. In a since-deleted Twitter post, Minaj curtly suggested, "I didn't hear the song & ask 2get on it. The label asked me2get on it & paid me" (via Bustle).

Clearly humiliated, Jessie took to Instagram to address the "weird energy" between them and to admit that she "never knew" the real story. "Someone [was] clearly gassing me up at the label," she said, and thanked the rapper for "clarifying." In the since-deleted post, she shared how "blessed" she felt to collaborate with the two artists on the track and suggested she was laughing her way through the drama. "What a way for us to celebrate the seven-year anniversary of the song," she wrote (via BuzzFeed).

Indeed, but as one fan suggested on Twitter, we should have potentially seen this beef coming, considering that Nicki once "used Jessie J as a stair railing" during a live performance of the song. The video evidence is not kind. Here's hoping that Jessie always finds a way to laugh the drama off, for Minaj's sake.

This should go without saying, but as a general rule, it's probably not the best idea to go gabbing about other people's intimate body parts on social media for the whole world to see. And that's especially true if you happen to have as big a social media following as Nicki Minaj does. Regardless, in 2021, the rapper decided to make the genitalia of her cousin's unnamed friend the business of a viral post on Twitter. 

Speaking about the COVID-19 vaccine, Minaj suggested the dude's "testicles became swollen" after he received his vaccination. "His friend was weeks away from getting married," she dramatically wrote, "now the girl called off the wedding." On top of prompting doctors the world over to assure people that such side effects are untrue and "a myth" according to USA Today, Minaj's cousin's friend's balls also became a total joke online. 

One Twitter user wrote, "Some random guy in Trinidad blamed Covid for catching an STI while cheating and now look what he caused," while another joked, "the year is 2039 and we're still in this pandemic because one time Nicki Minaj's cousin's friend got an STD and she told all her followers it was covid." Even the British government found themselves addressing the statement (via Dazed). It had reach. 

So...here's hoping Minaj's cousin's friend is able to come up for air from whatever pit-of-shame he's likely hiding in, and he can remind the superstar about private things staying private.