Are Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice in a feud? History between rappers explored

Nicki Minaj has been in the rap industry for close to 15 years now, and in that duration, she has cemented her reputation as the wealthiest, most followed female rapper in the world. With this kind of success and fame, Minaj also has her fair share of rivals. The Pink Friday rapper has been entangled in beef with many fellow artists, from Remy Ma and Lil Kim to Latto and Megan Thee Stallion. Her beef with Ice Spice is a more recent one.

Ice Spice collaborated with Minaj for songs in 2023. In May 2024, their relationship allegedly went sour over Spice's leaked text messages that threw shade at Minaj. Here's a look at the history between the rappers.

---

2023: Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice collaborated on Barbie World and Princess Diana

Ice Spice, whose real name is Isis Naija Gaston, got an opportunity to work alongside Nicki Minaj early in her career. The rapper, who released her debut track, Bully Lifestyle, in 2021, collaborated with Minaj on the remix of Princess Diana in April 2023. The track peaked at no. 4 on the Billboard chart soon after its release and was a commercial success.

Two months later, Barbie World - another collaboration between the rappers - was dropped. Later that year, Nicki Minaj walked the pink carpet for Barbie's world premiere on July 9, the rapper opened up about the creation process of Barbie World, saying:

"There were a couple songs that I didn’t love. This ‘Barbie’ sample, I loved it. I just wanted it to have a dope drum, and so the one that they sent me, I loved! And I jumped on it right away."

She also added how being included in the project was a "full circle moment" for her. The track peaked at no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the highest-charting track from the movie's soundtrack at the time.

---

2024: Ice Spice's texts about Nicki Minaj were leaked by Baby Storme

In May, Ice Spice's former friend, Baby Storme, leaked a bunch of screenshots of their iMessage conversations, where she was talking about Nicki Minaj. The screenshots reflected the texts being sent from a number saved as "Isis 2nd Phone."

A particular text allegedly by Ice from the leaked screenshots claimed how she had included Minaj in the Barbie opportunity, writing:

"[The song] is an opportunity I brought [to Minaj because the] Barbie [producers] invited me to do it alone, but since that’s her brand, I invited her on, and she doesn’t even see that as me bringing her something."

In another text, she confessed to not speaking to Minaj, writing:

"She’s kinda like my mom: ungrateful and delusional. I cut her off by the way. [I’m] not speaking to her ‘til January."

---

Ice Spice opened up about her relationship with Minaj in a Rolling Stones interview

On July 5, Ice Spice was interviewed by Rolling Stones, where the rapper talked about the success of her debut studio album, Y2K!, collaborating with Taylor Swift, and dealing with haters, among other things.

In the interview, Ice Spice also opened up about her relationship with the Super Freaky Girl rapper saying:

“We don’t have the closest relationship, you know? But we’re definitely good... We’re mutuals. We had smash records together. I love us together. I think the world does too.”

Thereafter addressing the leaked texts from two months ago, the Munch rapper explained not having any hard feelings towards Minaj, elaborating with:

"What I said in those texts was just in a moment of frustration around contract negotiations... I could have chose different words. But at the end of the day, regardless of how I felt in that moment, [Nicki] is still somebody I respect as an artist, and I’m always going to admire everything she’s done for me and the culture."

---

Nicki Minaj unfollowed Ice Spice on Instagram in August

While the Hey Mama rapper made no public comment about the leaked texts of Ice Spice - or her explanation of those texts in her interview with Rolling Stones - her actions spoke volumes.

According to HipHopDX, fans of Minaj noticed that she had unfollowed Ice Spice on Wednesday, August 21. Minaj's action suggests that she might no longer be on "good terms" with the In Ha Mood rapper, as the latter had previously suggested.

However, Spice continues to follow Nicki Minaj despite no longer being followed back. Minaj also unfollowed JT alongside Ice Spice in August.

---

Both Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice are currently on their respective tours. Minaj's Pink Friday 2 World Tour will conclude on October 11, while Spice's Y2K! World Tour will extend to January 2025.