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The landscape of female rap is constantly changing, and when Nicki Minaj first arrived in the early 2000s, other New York female MCs, most notably Remy Ma, welcomed her with open arms. As two different artists who had two completely different sounds, when Minaj became a sensation in her city, it didn’t appear to bother Remy.

Before becoming a credible recording artist, Remy Ma was primarily known in New York as a battle rapper who (as a teen) would destroy men twice her age at a venue above a Bronx record shop called ‘The Fight Klub’. She then became a member of the legendary Terror squad alongside Fat Joe and Big Pun to devastating effect. 

As such, she was a well-known female lyricist long before anyone had ever heard of Nicki Minaj. However, a series of unforeseen events would lead to a sad downfall for Remy and an unfathomable surge in Minaj’s fanbase.

After the release of ‘Lean Back’ Terror Squad’s 2004 hit single, Remy Ma worked on her debut solo album, There’s Something About Remy, which was released at the start of 2006. Initially, it seemed as if there was nothing stopping the rapper. However, shortly after her album release in 2006, the rapper found herself having a severe brush with the law after an accident with a firearm led to one of her friends being shot. In 2007, the rapper was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Unfortunately, the year Remy Ma was put behind bars and forced to halt her career, Nicki Minaj was signed by Birdman and, after the release of her mixtape, Playtime Is Over, became a star with fans across the US.

Within two years, she was an international superstar and was recording an album that would go on to debut at number one and become multi-platinum. With total dominance as the only woman in hip-hop, she became the most highly decorated female emcee ever. 

As such, she became used to being the number one, so when Remy Ma was released in 2014, there was a suspicion that the two would clash. However, on multiple occasions, including interviews on HOT 97.0 and The Breakfast Club, the Bronx native explained that she and Minaj were “cool” she even called the Pink Friday creator her “sister” and insisted she was “proud of her” having seen her rise from the underground of New York to stardom.

Behind the scenes, Minaj had ulterior motives, and the feeling was most definitely not mutual. As such, following a series of events, Remy felt the need to release her savage diss track, ‘Shether’. During an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show, she wrote ‘Shether’ because Minaj was repeatedly impeding her career path and suppressing her behind the scenes. She claimed Minaj had paid off journalists to write negative album reviews, blackmailed award ceremonies to prohibit her from attending, and even coerced producers to deny her collaboration opportunities. 

Minaj had accrued an unfathomable amount of power, but in 2016, on Gucci Mane’s track ‘Make Love,’ many accused her of taking shots at Remy Ma, who had achieved a platinum record with ‘All The Way Up’ but had seen her joint album with Fat Joe Palto-O-Plomo perform poorly.

On the track, Minaj rhymes, “Oooohhh, oh you the qu-e-e-the queen of this here? / One platinum plaque, album flopped, b—tch, where?” and, “You see, silly rabbit, to be the queen of rap / You gotta sell records, you gotta get plaques / S, plural like the S on my chest.”

Most hip-hop fans deemed Remy Ma the winner and since 2017, Minaj has entered feuds with Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Latto and more. As such, people are beginning to see the Queens emcee as a problem.