Welcome to ‘Gram Crumbs, the new column from Noisey in which we follow all or part of a story as it travels through Instagram. For the big debut, it had to be the whole Remy Ma Vs. Nicki Minaj situation. Now if you’re like me at all, then you’ve been tuned in since Remy dropped “shETHER” a week ago. Here’s a bit of the backstory. This war has been going on for like ten years. In 2007, back when Nicki Minaj wasn’t NICKI MINAJ, she had a song called “Dirty Money” on her mixtape Playtime Is Over where she references a “bitch with the crown” to the tune of “Yeah Yeah Yeah” by Terror Squad. So, clearly, Remy thought that was about her. Add to that this weird rumor that the two previously dated (due to this video in which someone who sort of looks and sounds like Nicki claimed to have been with Remy).
Are you confused yet? Okay. Then Remy went to prison for six years, and Nicki Minaj became NICKI MINAJ. Then she gets out and starts sending subliminals Nicki’s way. On her first “fresh out of prison” release, the DJ Khaled track “They Don’t Love You No More,” Remy says “I listened to your CD, damn, you really wanna be me.” She kept it going on a “Truffle Butter” freestyle along with some baby shots scattered on social media. Then Nicki comes through eventually on Jason Derulo’s “Swalla” with “Bless her heart, she throwing shots but every line sucks.” Welp. So now we’re at like a week and a half ago.
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Nicki hops on Gucci’s “Make Love,” and fires off the above bars about albums flopping and all of that. While not being exactly direct here, Remy’s comeback project with Fat Joe, Plata o Plomo didn’t exactly do very well despite “All The Way Up” being a smash.
And here we have the shots heard ’round the world. Over Nas’s classic diss track “Ether,” Remy Ma very directly goes in, challenging Nicki on her bedroom behavior and her backside surgeries. Nicki’s response was to hit Instagram.
Here, Nicki posts about Plata o Plomo’s flaccid album sales. But she deleted the post.
Then she posted this little clip of Beyoncé singing that Nicki is the “rap queen,” even though the lyrics on the clip don’t exactly match what Bey’s singing.
Meanwhile, the day “shETHER” dropped, Safaree was like “nah” and unplugged for a while.
Meek was apparently enjoying the war, liking a photo Ebro posted of Nicki and Remy in a simulated fight scene. Game didn’t like that and wrote a paragraph about it. This is allegedly #Omelly and #MeekMill on Instagram Live responding to #TheGame’s post from the other day:
Now SUPPOSEDLY this was Meek Mill and Omelly on IG Live commenting on Game’s paragraph. Not sure if this is #FakeNews, but this was:
To clear the air, supposedly Meek didn’t record this video and some internet treasure troll synched it up.
Then the clock kept ticking. No word from Nicki, so of course the memes started.
Boosie weighed in how he’s not taking sides. As you can see, Nicki liked the post even though Boosie called her “Nikki.” Fetty Wap liked it too.
Oh yeah, and Remy posted a pic of Nicki on IG before her buttwork, calling her “Spongebob” again. But then she deleted it.
Nicki seems #Unbothered in Paris hanging out with supermodels.
Remy called “time’s up” and dropped a SECOND diss track, aptly titled “Another One.”
Then she did her continued press run and hit the Wendy Williams show and talked about Nicki.
PLOT TWIST! Foxy Brown has something to say. She dropped “Breaks Over” (no punctuation) and went in.
Then, for reasons unknown, rap veteran Sparky D came through to diss them both on a track called “Open Casket.”
As for Lil’ Kim, who everyone was hoping would chime in, she’s “too glam to give a damn.” You tell ’em, Queen Bee!
BUT, how is she going to feel about Nicki exposing one breast like she did at the 1999 MTV VMAs . This war has so many people jumping in, it’s like a bar fight. Hell, more may weigh in by the time you’re reading this. Stay tuned.
Kathy Iandoli is #TeamEverybody in this battle. Follow her on Twitter/Instagram @kath3000.