Cardi B vs Nicki Minaj: Beef Timeline How It All Started 2017–2023

Explore the timeline and history of Nicki Minaj and Cardi B's Beef: How it all Started  From Remy Ma, Bodak Yellow, Motorsport with the Migos and more. Dive into the shady interviews, sneak disses in tracks, and subs on social media, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B have been waging a cold war for many years–lets get into it.

History of Nicki Minaj and Cardi B's Beef: How it all Started

The Time Line

By: Maurice Holmes

Saturday Nov, 8th 2025 at 1:20 PM CDT

15-20 min read

The Queen of rap and new comer Card B have had a wild ride in the music industry–through shady interviews, sneak disses on tracks, and subs on social media– Nicki Minaj and Cardi B have been waging a cold war for years. But things turned nuclear and exploded right in all our faces on Tuesday, September 30th–when the two traded personal and raw insults on X formerly known as Twitter.

So how exactly did we get here you may ask? Was it Nicki’s obsession with remaining the queen of rap? Or is Cardi too sensitive and is she secretly trying to take Nicki's place? We're going to get into the facts, so you can make a clear decision of what's going on. Below we revisit the history of Cardi B and Nicki’s long feud–taking you back to 2017 and bringing you back to 2025. Here are the events that led us here.

In June 2017: Cardi B joins Remy Ma at Summer Jam: Nicki Minaj is Beefing with Remy Ma at this time

There’s a debate on when the feud between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B began. While some believe it started as early as March 2017, and is likely the reason people feel Nicki didn’t welcome the young rapper with open arms. It was because Cardi’s appearance during Remy Ma ’s 2017 performance at Hot 97’s Summer Jam festival rubbed her the wrong way. Which might've caused Nicki not to trust her being that she was feuding with female rapper Remy Ma at this time.

The performance went down right in the middle of Remy and Nicki’s beef — and Cardi had the audacity to join a lineup of other female rappers to perform “U.N.I.T.Y.” before Remy came out with her Nicki diss track, “ShETHER.” Behind Remy, an image of Nicki appeared like a memorial — as if she’d died or her career had been buried. Disrespectful? Beyond. Cardi B literally took part in a staged funeral for Nicki Minaj’s career. So tell me — who wouldn’t be side-eyeing this chick after that? Wouldn’t you?

In August of 2017: Nicki Minaj denies subbing Cardi on the “No Flags” track

In August 2017, Nicki Minaj appeared on London on da Track’s single “No Flags” alongside Cardi’s man at the time Offset and 21 Savage– On it, she rapped:

"Lil’ bitches I heard these labels tryna make another me/Everything you getting little hoe is 'cause of me."

Nicki went onto post a tweet on X denying this was meant as a shot toward Cardi B.

Social Media fuels the beef with rumors and headlines

As we know social media can fuel hate and beefs with rage bait headlines, or painted narratives that actually don't exist—and they did. People immediately began speculating that Nicki was taking shots at the former Love & Hip Hop star, but she quickly denied those claims. Rather they were sneak disses or not—social media wanted them to be disses no matter what–Because what's better than a girl fight right?

In September 2017: Cardi featured on “No Limit,” A G-Eazy Remix

In an interview with The Breakfast Club , Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy kept asking Cardi B about the alleged beef she had with Nicki. The question's followed rumors circulating that Belcalis was dissing Nicki in her feature on G-Eazy’s “No Limit.” were she rapped

Can you stop with all the subs? Bitch, I ain't Jared/
If you really want some smoke
You can pull up, you can get it (Woo)

Cardi denied they had any problems saying, "We just conversated man. And that's it." She also brushed off the “No Limit” rumor by explaining, “People don’t understand that I got beef with 10 bitches in the hood, and I still be in the hood.” As to say everything ain't what we think it is. But then the question is why does she have so many beefs with women in her hood? Is this red flags 🚩about who cardi B really is? 👀 Maybe. 

On September 25, 2017: Cardi B makes history with No. 1 song “Bodak Yellow”

ICardi B did a big thing in her ghost written song in the fall of 2017, she broke a record by becoming the second female rapper with a No. 1 hit song on the Billboard Hot 100, thanks to “Bodak Yellow.” Lauryn Hill accomplished the feat with "Doo Wop (That Thing)" back in 1998.

After the news broke, Nicki Minaj congratulated Cardi on the No. 1 hit, praising her on X. So why do they say Nicki Minaj doesn't applaud other women? Mmm! These are facts that are often hid from the media or to those who rather believe click bait rather than do their "fucking research." (as nicki minaj would say.)

In October 2017: Migos drops “MotorSport” featuring Nicki Minaj and Cardi

It was a blessing and a curse when Migos dropped “Motorsport,” a dope track featuring both Nicki and Cardi. Despite both rappers consistently denying their feud, people began speculating they were sneak dissing each other on the same song.

Still, the two women steered clear of the rumors. “I feel like people wouldn’t even be satisfied if me and her was making out on a freaking photo,” Cardi told Complex later that month. "I feel like people just want that drama because it's entertaining."

Nicki also denied the beef in a series of tweets she later deleted. “These are men in our culture who simply refuse to let it go,” she tweeted of the alleged conflict. “They don’t do this to male M.C.’s.”

In November of 2017: “MotorSport” video comes out and the Speculations began..

Eventually, the video for “MotorSport” comes out and it’s quickly apparent that Nicki did not shoot on the same day as Migos or Cardi. This stokes more rumors that the two have beef , though Nicki later claims it's because her hairstylist wasn't available the original day of the shoot. Which through further investigation 🔎 our team did in fact find out Nicki was telling the truth. Nicki Minaj did not lie about the scheduling problem and her hairstylist not being able to get her video ready.

When  Cardi was asked about Nicki and the motorsport song in an interview  in November, Cardi B danced around the question awkwardly, while also revealing that Nicki’s original song on the track was different.

The next day, Nicki fires off the following tweet.

On April 5, 2018: Cardi B releases her debut album

Invasion of Privacy

The winter season goes by quietly, as Cardi and Nicki both seem to be in complete album mode, gearing up for 2018 album releases. Cardi’s comes first. Her debut Invasion of Privacy drops and receives critical praise, landing at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Hours before her album comes out, Beats 1 releases an interview of Cardi where she tells Ebro her beef with Nicki is completely made up. "I just feel like it's really internet made-up," she says. "I really feel like fans and people really want to see that happen because it's really entertaining. To see people beef is entertaining."

few days later, we all learn on Saturday Night Live that Cardi B was pregnant , and all seems well for her and het new found superstardom.

On April 12, 2018: Nicki’s releases two singles from her upcoming album

Following Invasion of Privacy, Nicki releases “Chun-Li” and “Barbie Tingz,” the first singles from her album Queen, which she would later announce. To debut the singles, Nicki then goes on the  Zane Lowe’s show on Beats 1.

During her interview with Zane, Nicki decided to finally address what’s been bubbling under the surface all these months.

"The only thing that Cardi did that really hurt my feelings was the first interview after 'Motorsport' came out,” Nicki said. “It just really hurt me because the only thing she kept saying was, 'I didn't hear that verse. She changed her verse.'"

"I kind of felt ambushed,” Nicki continued, while getting visibly upset. She also said Quavo "didn't back [her] up" on the story of how the record came about, which prompted the her fanbase  the Barbs to swarm the Migos rapper .

Nicki went on to explain that her hairdresser had a scheduling conflict the day of the “MotorSport” shoot, but that Migos and Cardi kept quiet when rumors about the beef escalated.

“All of them allowed me to look like I lied and even with the scheduling conflict, she’s using my hairdresser now, so even he can attest to the fact that there was a scheduling conflict,” she said.

“I really fully supported her and up until this recent interview I had never seen her show me genuine love in an interview,” she said, referring to Cardi’s conversation with Ebro. “I can just imagine how many girls wish they could of been on a song with Nicki Minaj. I’m not saying it in a cocky way.”

Coincidentally, Nicki’s original verse on “MotorSport” leaked the same day as her interview, revealing she had referenced Cardi. We all know Cardi B leaked that video. 🙄 The thing about it is–Cardi B told half truths and allowed the public to assume the rest. As my team continues to investigate Cardi B and Nicki’s fumming beef more things come to light. 

After the leaked Verse of Nicki Minaj’s original verse came out she posted about it on "X"

The final version replaced Cardi’s name with Quavo, and thing singing part was taken out as Nicki said. The original is still as good as the original. Nothing was drastic anout the change as Cardi made it seem. She originally had the public believing Nicki changed her verse after hearing hers–as if to say her verse was better and Nicki didn't like that. But the only thing changed from the original is Cardi’s name & the singing verse. It's still unclear if it was meant to be shade or a shout out. Nicki later tweeted that she changed the verse per Atlantic’s request.

Cardi and Nicki May 7, 2018: At The Met Gala

Despite Nicki’s Beats 1 interview, photographers capture Nicki and Cardi– the two rappers having a cordial moment on the red carpet during the 2018 Met Gala. Once again, things seem to be fine and they where both in good spirits.

Later in May  on the Howard Stern show , Cardi explains that the two rappers talked things out at the Met Gala. “I never was feuding with anybody. There was a misunderstanding. She felt a certain type of way about something and I definitely felt a certain type of way about something. Cardi stated: 

"We didn’t want to ever talk about it in public because I felt like we gonna see each other again and we will talk about it," the Bronx native quipped. "It’s always little issues but the thing is, fans are always gonna make it a big thing. I spoke to her about it. It’s just like, see? It was just something that it had to be talked about."

August 10, 2018: Nicki releases her Album Queen

Instead of celebrating, Nicki spends the days after Queen's release feuding with multiple people, including DJ Self, who she claims tried to feed her negative gossip about Cardi B. Self later denies it .

“He was just up there dissin the btch thinking that would make me f**k wit him. Lmao. Jokes on you once again dummy. Passed up on ya meal tkt now u get crumbs from her table. Ur a reality tv hoe. Used to be a respected DJ," she wrote in a series of now deleted tweets.

On Aug. 16, Nicki is interviewed by Ebro on Beats 1, and of course he asks about the Cardi beef. “Now, I didn’t know Cardi and I had an issue, but I guess we do since you’re saying it and other people are saying it,” she said, after trying to dismiss the question. “To me, she may have taken an issue with things that I’ve said, but I’m not going to bite my tongue.... You gotta have thick skin. People talk s**t about me all the time.... You can’t be expect to be liked and loved and praised all the fuckin’ time. Give me a break.”

August 19, 2018: 'Queen' lands at No. 2 On Billboard Top 200 Chart

All hell seems to break loose after Queen lands in the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 chart behind Travis Scott’s ASTROWORLD. Onika immediately responds to the news by going on a tweetstorm criticizing Travis for selling his album in tour and merch bundles (though she used similar tactics) and calling out Spotify for heavily promoting Drake instead of her. Nicki would go on to give Travis the "Hoe N***a of the Week" award on her Queen Radio show.

September 8, 2018: Cardi attempts to fight Nicki at NYFW

Finally, the culmination of over a year of sneak dissing, shady interviews, and rumored beef comes to a head. News that Cardi B and Nicki got into a physical fight at the Harper’s Bazaar Icons party during NYFW flooded timelines on Sept. 8 with video and photos of the incident. In one, Cardi appears to have a giant lump on her head following the fight.

In some videos, Cardi can be scene taking off her shoe to throw it. In another, she’s being held back while yelling "Play with me bitch...keep fucking playing with me, play with my fucking kid bitch...I'll f**k your ass up,” while Nicki is protected by security.

According to TMZ, the fight broke out after Cardi approached Nicki's table "to address the lies Nicki was spreading.” She was reportedly met with an elbow to the face as security attempted to halt the “I Like It” rapper, and Nicki’s friend Rah Ali apparently also go involved in the scuffle.

Cardi was eventually escorted out of the event, and went on Instagram to address the altercation without directly mentioning Nicki. "I've let a lot of s**t slide! I let you sneak diss me, I let you lie on me, I let you attempt to stop my bags, f**k up the way I eat," Cardi wrote. "You've threaten other artists in the industry, told them if they work with me you'll stop fuckin with them!! I let you talk big s**t about me!!"

Things were initially quiet on Nicki's end following the NYFW incident. Ms. Minaj waited until her eighth episode of Queen Radio on the following Monday to address the altercation, and when she did, she went in .

Nicki started off the discussion by playing a clip of Cardi B during an interview she did in 2017 with Fader. In the clip, Cardi explains that "nothing is off limits" when she claps back at people, even their children. "I hate when some people come at me like, 'Why you coming at kids for,'" Cardi can be heard saying. "I'm my mother's baby."

The reason Nicki played this clip is pretty obvious. In her Instagram post following their fight, Cardi indirectly claims Nicki talked about her daughter Kulture and her parenting skills. The clip is aimed at highlighting hypocrisy in that accusation, while the Queen rapper also denied ever saying anything about Cardi's daughter. "I would never talk about anyone’s child or anyone’s parenting,” she said. “And it’s so crazy to me that people always need to make Onika the bad guy...I am not a clown. That’s clown shit.”

"You knew that when that footage came out you would look dumb,” Nicki continued, explaining why Cardi and her team would make up the accusation. “I didn’t even feel the need to defend myself that night. ...She has built her career off of sympathy and payola."

Nicki denied ever stopping bags from coming Cardi's way, and actually accused her of more than a few things, including attacking a woman on Instagram whose child died, and calling the child a "monkey." She called out Cardi for previously referring to darker skinned black women as roaches , and alleged that Cardi actually threatened a male rapper to not shoot a video with her.

"The lord gave you a blessing with a bundle of joy and the only thing on your mind was to attack people and to stop their bags," Nicki said, after suggesting Cardi might have postpartum depression. "Who are you angry at sweetheart?"

Nicki also brought on her friend Rah, who was involved in the NYFW brawl. They spent a good amount of time talking about the two women who are reportedly planning to sue Cardi B for allegedly organizing physical attacks on them. In the conversation, the women dragged Offset and blamed him for being the reason Cardi is so pressed, since Cardi reportedly thinks one of the victims slept with her husband.

October 28, 2018: The Leak, Allegedly

Cardi’s sister Hennessey Carolina went on social media to accuse Nicki of leaking Cardi’s phone number to the Barbz, leading to a barrage of hateful messages. “She leaked my sisters [sic] number to her fan pages,” Hennessey wrote.

October 29, 2018: "What Type of Bird shit You Talking About?"

Nicki returned to Queen Radio , and unleashed a long monologue about Cardi, the fight, music, and pretty much everything else.

When it came to the fight, Minaj said that her friend Rah Ali did serious damage to Cardi (as opposed to Cardi’s telling, where security was to blame), and that there was footage to back that up. “Rah beat Cardi's ass really bad,” Nicki said. “Rah beat you so bad that I was mad at Rah.”

Minaj also denied leaking Cardi’s phone number (“What type of bird s**t you on, bitch?” she asked incredulously), and said that she had asked Cardi to collaborate, but got turned down. Nicki also claimed that she had been offered—and turned down—Cardi’s Fashion Nova deal, and offered to take a lie detector test to bolster all of her claims.

In more fashion news, Wilhelmina CEO Bill Wackerman took Nicki’s side, disputing Cardi’s claim that Nicki was Diesel’s second choice (behind her) to be the face of their Fashion Week campaign.

October 28, 2018: The Leak, Allegedly

In a series of 10 (!) Instagram videos, Cardi laid out her rebuttal. A list of key takeaways:

• If she was getting beaten so badly by Rah Ali, why hasn’t any video of that surfaced yet? As Cardi memorably puts it, there was “so much footages” of the party and the fight.

• Cardi cops to demanding that Nicki change her verse on “Motorsport,” saying that she refused to shoot the video unless the now-infamous “Nick Lombardi” line was changed.

• Cardi claims that Nicki turned down a chance to be on “No Limit,” and then turned around and got upset at her management after it became a hit.

• Cardi attacked payola claims, pointing out that her single “Money,” even before it was delivered to radio, was charting on iTunes—the same company that hosts Queen Radio.

• Cardi claimed that Nicki was responsible for the phone number leak. It happened one hour after their fight, Cardi said. Adding to the circumstantial evidence, Cardi said that neither her new number nor her sister’s number had been leaked, and that no one in Nicki’s camp had either one. “How come everybody that y’all have issues with, and y’all got the numbers in y’all camp, they numbers got leaked?” Cardi asked.

• Cardi claims that Nicki endorses her fans’ “sick-ass fucking behavior” by liking Twitter posts that advocate harassing Minaj’s enemies.

• Cardi denied telling 21 Savage not to shoot a video for “No Flag.” Instead, she says, the song just wasn’t doing well.

All of this back-and-forth ended later that night in a truce...for now.

November 2018: The Beef Returns–Here Goes Cardi And Nicki At It Again 

It didn't take long for Nicki and Cardi to fall back into their longstanding feud. A couple weeks into their "truce," things went south when 6ix9ine allegedly hired the two women suing Cardi  for a music video featuring Nicki and Kanye West. The video was never finished but this move made it obvious the beef was still bubbling underneath the surface.

Then, two weeks later, Nicki allegedly sneak-dissed Cardi once again in her verse for “MAMA” on 6ix9ine’s debut album DUMMY BOY . She raps: “I was out in Spain rockin’ a Medusa head/I ain’t never have to give a rap producer head/If I do, though, I’ma write a book like Supahead/This ain’t wonder that I’m makin’, this that super bread/Splish, splash, f**k him in a hurry, quick, fast.”

Fans of both rappers tried to put two and two together after Cardi “responded” to the verse by denying she ever slept with DJ Self , her former co-star on Love & Hip Hop. It's possible the lyric breakdown is a stretch, but worth noting.

Overview and analysis of the feud between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B 

Our take on the information gathered:

From everything we compiled, there’s a clear view the world needs to see.

In June of 2017, Cardi B joins Remy Ma at Summer Jam, and at this time, Nicki Minaj was beefing with Remy Ma. At that same Summer Jam, Remy Ma put Nicki Minaj’s image in the background, staging an entire mockup like a live funeral—as if Nicki Minaj’s career was dead because of her or either Nicki was dead altogether. That was evil and disrespectful. Who holds a funeral for a woman that’s alive?

So, even though Nicki had never physically met Cardi, all her red flags went up—and honestly, whose wouldn’t after that? When the “Motorsport” track came along with Migos featuring both Nicki and Cardi, people started twisting Nicki’s lyrics, accusing her of a diss with the line:

“If Cardi B the QB / I’m Nick Lombardi.”

No one understood how that was a diss. Nicki was calling herself a coach, a legend, saying if Cardi’s the quarterback, she’s Lombardi—the man behind the wins. But instead of respect, people flipped it. Cardi painted it like Nicki changed her verse after hearing hers, as if she got defensive or jealous of Cardi’s verse. Which by hearing either verse of Nicki’s she's the clear winner with or without changes to the verse.

The rumor spread fast. But when we heard Nicki Minaj’s original leaked verse, it sounded basically the same—the only parts missing were Cardi’s name and Nicki’s singing section.Nicki explained it clear as day in her own words during multiple interviews:

“How can you say someone changed their verse and forget to say Quavo told me to remove my singing part (which I loved) and Atlantic told me to remove your name from my verse per your request? So how were those changes gonna happen if I didn’t ‘change’ my verse?”

Nicki never lied. The proof was right there. Cardi, on the other hand, played this entire situation from the start. She twisted perception, making it look like Nicki was hating just to fuel her own come‑up. And guess what? Nicki’s instincts about Cardi being around Remy were right.

That’s where the red flag came from, and it turned out to be real.Then October 28, 2018 happens. Cardi posts a series of ten Instagram videos. She’s heated, talking wild, saying too much—and admits it herself.

She flat-out confirms she demanded Nicki change her “Motorsport” verse and even refused to shoot the video unless the “Nick Lombardi” line got cut. Those are Cardi’s own words. Which in reality no one using logic needed her to admit this–common sense would tell you she demanded the removal–why would Nicki herself want to remove a bar with such an iconic meaning?! Cardi saw it as a diss and got mad. Period!

That right there proves who started the drama.Cardi created this beef. She built a false story and allowed the world to run with it being that there was already a current Nicki Minaj hate train. So, Nicki became the villain for simply being herself. That’s the twisted part—the world never stopped to fact-check.

Even now, years later, Cardi’s narrative still clouds people’s perception.So yeah, Nicki clapped back in her music, sent out warning shots and many disses–and rightfully so. Who wouldn’t?

If someone dragged your name through the mud for clout and used you as their stepping stone, tell me you wouldn’t spit back.Cardi brought the drama. The industry let her. And Nicki just handled the fallout with bars sharper than anyone could stomach.Stay tuned for part 2, “Am I The Drama: Cardi B and Nicki Minaj Beef Explodes in a Twitter War 2025.”

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