What happened between SZA and Nicki Minaj? Exploring the beef as duo's online back-and-forth goes viral

Nicki Minaj and SZA are currently trending online after their beef went viral earlier this week. Nicki called out the Ctrl singer for subtweeting her, threw shade at her career achievements, and looks. Meanwhile, SZA described the Anaconda rapper as a bully and asked her to “bark at the wall.”

The feud began on July 15, 2025, when Minaj took to the social networking site X and dissed hip-hop artist and Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) President Terrence “Punch” Henderson, calling him a “tiny d**k executive.” TDE is an independent record label to which SZA is signed, and Punch is her longtime manager.

Nicki, 42, seemingly took a dig at Punch by writing, “Y’all remember that man from TDE who kept bullying me on Twitter for no reason?”

“We have the receipts lol. I never even responded to him. What was his name again, y'all? I'm going to give him a nickname. Ima call him ‘Minus 30 million’ from now on,” Nicki Minaj wrote.

The Super Bass hitmaker further added,

“So glad I have proof of being bullied by AND being lied on by a man PUBLICLY on a platform I use for my JOB; after I rejected his business proposition on more than one occasion.”

While Punch didn’t respond to the accusation, SZA, 35, seemingly hit back at Nicki Minaj by writing on the platform, "Mercury retrograde… don't take the bait lol silly goose." SZA later clarified that she “wasn’t even talking about or to anyone” and “had just got off stage, talkin bout retrograde.”

“N***AS @’d ME. The F**K YES I'M MAD NOW DO YOU NEED THAT!??” the ‘SOS’ artist continued.

In the wake of this, Nicki responded to SZA’s post by writing, "Go draw your freckles back on bookie." She also took a shot at the All the Stars songstress’s appearance in multiple follow-up posts.

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More about Nicki Minaj and SZA’s ongoing feud

Following the first set of back-and-forth between Nicki Minaj and SZA, the former called the latter a “liar.” The Pink Friday rapper continued:

“Liar, liar, pants on fire. Sounding like a fkng dead dog.”

The Kendrick Lamar collaborator replied to Nicki by writing, “I don’t give a f**k bout none of that weird sh*t you popping.”

Minaj shot back by tweeting, “B*tch looking & sounding like she got stung by a f**king bee. Dot dot dot *Draws on my fake freckles*” The Trinidadian-born rapper further threw ire at SZA.

"B*tch put out a whole new album as a deluxe to an already existing album that was out for like a year or 2, so the original album could break records. Like what, in the insecure lack of morals & integrity, you doing? I thought she was like a real artist? Girl bye," Nicki Minaj further wrote.

She was referring to the deluxe edition of SZA’s 2022 studio album, SOS, that the latter released earlier this year. It surpassed records by going 9x platinum in less than three years, a milestone which made the St. Louis singer the only Black artist to spend more than 80 weeks on the Billboard 200’s top 10 chart. The record was previously held by Michael Jackson.

Initially, SZA did not respond to Nicki Minaj’s shade at her looks and music. However, when a fan pointed out that the Barbz might target her online, the Kill Bill singer mentioned that she gets “bullied by millions online every day,” yet goes out to perform at a “packed stadium tour” where people show her “REAL love, IN REAL LIFE.”

SZA also counted her blessings in life, such as her parents being healthy and her being the “most successful I’ve ever been.”

“GET SOME F**KING PERSPECTIVE n BARK AT THE WALL!!!” the R&B artist added.

SZA was talking about currently being on the European leg of the Grand National Tour with hip-hop icon Kendrick Lamar.

When a netizen pointed out that her accomplishments were linked to the ongoing “joint tour,” the Lana singer shared a list of her solo achievements, including her 2023 SOS Tour earning $95.5 million, scoring top 5 spot on Billboard’s top 10 grossing R&B tours of that year, and the 2024 tour grossing $41.5 million, among others.

“What the f**k you wanna see lemme know,” SZA wrote in her caption, before adding in her final tweet, “Lmao lemme go back to being calm, shy, and meek. Y’all have a blessed night! See you tomorrow for night 2 Paris!!”

She and K-Dot are slated to perform at the Paris La Défense Arena on July 16, 2025.

Meanwhile, Minaj shared her final words by asking SZA to “shut up” and calling her “ugly.” Nicki added that she was “in a meeting” and wasn’t keeping track of what SZA was writing online. However, if it was nothing, she would later “delete” her post. In another lengthy tweet, she mocked SZA for thinking she was "more successful than her," adding the world wouldn't miss the latter if her music "vanished."

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It is noteworthy that Nicki Minaj used the hashtag #JusticeForDemoree in all her tweets concerning SZA. However, it was a separate reference to Demoree Hadley, the daughter of Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez.

While Nicki Minaj has a longstanding feud with Roc Nation, Hadley recently sued her mother for reportedly and illegally getting herself admitted to a mental health facility for weeks.

Edited by Tiasha