When Tweets Turn Into Nuclear War: Nicki Minaj vs. SZA and the Feud That Shook Hip-Hop
If you’ve been anywhere online recently, you’ve seen it. What began as a seemingly harmless tweet about Mercury Retrograde exploded into one of the wildest feuds in modern music. By the time the dust settled — or rather, when it reached nuclear proportions — Nicki Minaj wasn’t just firing shots at SZA. She had dragged in Drake, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar’s label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), and even the FBI.
This was no ordinary spat. It was a cautionary tale about ego, rejection, fan wars, and how quickly hip-hop beef can spiral into chaos in the social media age. Let’s break it down.
The Spark: Mercury Retrograde or Subtweet?
On July 15, 2025, SZA posted a cryptic, mystical line on X:
“Mercury retrograde, don’t take the bait, lol silly goose.”
For longtime fans, it was a classic SZA moment — playful, spiritual, and perfectly on-brand. But Nicki Minaj, already on edge after accusing TDE president Terrence “Punch” Henderson of past bullying and sabotage, saw it differently.
To Nicki, this wasn’t about astrology. It was shade. She interpreted the timing — just before she went off on Punch — as a direct subtweet aimed at her.
And so, the Queen of Rap unleashed hell.
Nicki vs. SZA: Kindergarten Taunts, Brutal Insults
Nicki’s replies stunned fans. She mocked SZA’s appearance, told her to “draw your freckles back on,” and even tweeted, “Liar liar, pants on fire… sounding like a dog that got stung by a bee.”
The internet froze. Was this hip-hop’s biggest female rapper reducing herself to playground-level taunts?
SZA, initially calm, finally snapped back:
“I don’t give a f** about none of that weird s*** you popping.”*
But then, she played her trump card: receipts.
The Text Messages That Changed Everything
Out of nowhere, SZA dropped screenshots of old text messages from 2020 showing Nicki Minaj’s team had reached out — not once, but twice — asking her to collaborate.
“Hey, it’s Nicki,” one message read, proposing SZA record a hook for an upcoming track. SZA politely declined, saying she was locked in on her SOS album.
The revelation was explosive. Nicki had been trying to frame SZA as irrelevant, but the receipts proved the opposite: not only did Nicki know her, she wanted her on songs.
To make matters worse, SZA reminded the world she had co-writing credits on Nicki and Beyoncé’s hit “Feeling Myself,” contributing the line, “Cooking up the bass, looking like a kilo.”
The internet erupted. Nicki’s credibility took a massive hit.
Nicki Doubles Down: Drake, Beyoncé, and Old Tweets
Instead of backing down, Nicki went harder. She claimed SZA wasn’t successful enough to matter, even though SOS was breaking records, including surpassing Michael Jackson’s Thriller as the longest-charting Top 10 album by a Black artist.
She then resurfaced decade-old tweets from a young, unknown SZA where she had made snarky remarks about Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Ciara. To many, it looked desperate — weaponizing a teenager’s old posts to undermine a superstar’s current success.
But Nicki wasn’t finished. On July 17, she dragged Drake into the fight, claiming she was his first choice for “Rich Baby Daddy” before SZA got the feature. Then, in one of her crudest attacks yet, she suggested SZA was still “shaking it for Drake every day after swallowing his balls allegedly.”
Fans were horrified. Industry insiders began publicly questioning Nicki’s behavior. Even radio hosts admitted, “I don’t know what the hell is going on anymore.”
When Beef Becomes Federal: FBI Gets Tagged
The chaos reached new heights when TDE affiliate MacWop, during a livestream, told Nicki to “relax or get put in the blender like your boy.” In hip-hop slang, that meant getting destroyed lyrically — a reference to Kendrick Lamar’s brutal takedown of Drake in 2024.
But Nicki took it literally. She reposted the clip, tagging the FBI and Florida congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, demanding an investigation into what she described as a threat to her life.
The move stunned the hip-hop world. Calling the FBI over rap rhetoric? Many saw it as crossing a cultural line. Beef was supposed to stay in the booth, not the courtroom.
SZA’s Classy Exit: Stadiums Over Screens
Through it all, SZA refused to get dragged into the mud. She addressed the harassment briefly:
“I get bullied by millions online every day, then step out on a packed stadium tour where people show me real love in real life.”
It was the perfect mic drop. While Nicki spiraled on Twitter, SZA was performing sold-out shows with Kendrick Lamar in front of tens of thousands of fans. The contrast couldn’t have been clearer.
Her final tweet was simple, almost Zen:
“Let me go back to being calm, shy, and meek. Y’all have a blessed night. See you tomorrow in Paris.”
The Bigger Picture: Ego, Rejection, and Toxic Stans
What began as a misinterpreted astrology tweet had morphed into a full-blown cultural crisis. Beneath the chaos were years of industry politics: Nicki’s loyalty to Drake, her resentment toward TDE, and old wounds with executives like Desiree Perez.
But the ugliest part? The fans. Nicki’s Barbz launched coordinated harassment campaigns, doxxing attempts, and relentless attacks on anyone defending SZA. It was a stark reminder of how toxic Stan culture can weaponize social media.
A Cautionary Tale for the Future
By July 18, the feud was no longer just about Nicki and SZA. It was about how quickly celebrity drama can spiral when fueled by ego, fan bases, and the amplification of social media.
It was also about contrast. Nicki chose chaos, paranoia, and public meltdowns. SZA chose focus, music, and fans who show up in real life.
At the end of the day, the lesson may be simple: Sometimes the best way to win a feud is to log off and sell out a stadium.
And that’s how a tweet about Mercury Retrograde became a federal case.
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