Though Nicki Minaj is not afraid of rap beef, she did not come for Latto on “Fallin 4 U.”
After Minaj, 41, dropped Pink Friday 2 on Friday, December 8, the Barbz began to dissect the lyrics, and many wondered whether Minaj dissed Latto, 24, with a verse on “Fallin 4 U.” At one point, Minaj raps, “Picture you endin’ up under the sea, where the dread at? / Picture not listenin’ when I said you would dread that / I mean locs, ho / You’s a chop, ho.” Some fans thought the way that Minaj said “locs, ho” sounded like the word “Latto,” but she squashed that theory.
“The ‘dreadlock under the sea’ was … The Little Mermaid, right? So relax,” Minaj said during a recent livestream. A contributor to Genius also noted that Minaj said during a Stationhead listening party that the line was indeed a reference to Halle Bailey’s version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Strengthening this Halle connection is the fact that Halle’s sister, Chloë Bailey, also released a song titled “Fallin 4 U” on her 2023 album, In Pieces.
Some Barbz were expecting Minaj to strike at Latto since the two first clashed over “Super Freaky Girl” in October 2022. The Hollywood Reporter claimed that Minaj’s song wouldn’t be considered in the rap field at the Grammys and would possibly be nominated in the Best Pop Solo Performance category instead. Minaj tweeted that she had no problem being considered pop so long as Latto’s song “Big Energy” was also moved into the pop field. “[Anyone] who says [differently] is simply a Nicki hater or a troll,” Minaj said.
Minaj repeated this thought during an Instagram Live session, saying that if “Super Freaky Girl” isn’t considered rap, then “Big Energy” should be ineligible too.
Latto responded by tweeting, “Damn, I can’t win for losing … all these awards/noms I can’t even celebrate.”
Latto attempted to resolve the issue with Minaj via private messages, but Minaj publicly shared their exchange, calling Latto a “Karen” and saying that her fellow rapper would rather be silent “than speak up for the Black woman she called her biggest inspiration.”
Latto then fired back in a subtweet, saying that Minaj had posted “countless subtweets” about her and was “literally older than my mom [and] tryna be a bully.”
Latto addressed the beef in a February interview with Billboard. “It’s difficult navigating through situations like that because there’s a disconnect,” she said. “I will look at myself as a fan of someone and they will view [me] in a whole different light. It’s disappointing. You just got to take it to the chin and keep pushing.”
At the start of November, Minaj told her Barbz — who are notoriously loyal and willing to go to war for their queen — that she didn’t need them to fight her battles for her. “Dear Barbz, be sure to never threaten anyone on my behalf,” she wrote online. “Whether on the internet or in person. Whether in jest or not. I don’t [and] never have condoned that.”
