From Cardi V. Nicki To Lana V. Azealia, The 20 Biggest Feuds Of 2018

Mike Nied | December 31, 2018 2:42 pm

There are only a couple of hours left in 2018, which means that time is ticking down on year-end lists. We’ve already revisited some of the year’s best albums, music videos, performances and photoshoots. That’s not all though. We also forecasted the albums we’re most excited to hear in 2019. So now it is time to turn our attention somewhere a little shadier. It’s been a particularly good year for drama in pop music, with everyone from Nicki Minaj to Lana Del Rey getting involved in a feud or two. Some of the battles have been a little one-sided (Lorde v. Kanye West and Kid Cudi, for instance). Meanwhile, others have resulted in some truly epic Twitter spats (Azealia Banks v. Lana). Dive into a list of 20 of the year’s biggest beefs below!

Troye Sivan

20. Machine Gun Kelly v. Troye Sivan

Machine Gun Kelly did not take kindly to sharing an album title with Troye Sivan. “Kinda weird that dude released an entire album called bloom one year after I released an album called bloom,” the “Bad Things” hitmaker complained on Twitter. Guess he hasn’t seen how many pop princesses have named songs or albums Expectations

19. Drake v. Pusha T

Rap beefs popped up more frequently than pop songs were able to claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018. And one of the year’s biggest feuds was a long-standing one between Drake and Pusha T. Both artists hit at the other via diss tracks. Claims of irrelevancy and ghost writers were tossed around with wild abandon, and Pusha T was semi-responsible for outing Drake’s son Adonis to the world. Are you tired yet? I’m tired.

18. Nicki v. The Press

Nicki turned to social media to respond to any perceived diss from the press this year. Considering her continued support of 6ix9ine and underperforming album there were plenty of stories and journalists for her to hit back at by awarding the title of #CockSuckaOfTheDay.

17. Lil’ Kim v. Nicki Minaj

Lil’ Kim put her own spin on Mariah Carey’s shadiest line to sneak a diss in about Nicki while praising Cardi B. “You know, Cardi is my girl. I don’t know the other one,” she told a reporter at an event. That shade would work so much better if she and Nicki hadn’t spent the better part of the last few years exchanging shady comments about one another.

16. Azealia Banks v. Nicki Minaj

One of Azealia Banks’ signature Twitter tirades started when she took offense to Nicki wearing a mermaid costume in her “Bed” video. “It’s giving canned tuna sis,” she complained. “Your hips and booty too big for that mermaid tail.” However, after staking her claim on mermaid tails, she proceeded to claim Cardi B had brought an end to Nicki’s career. I’ll let you decide which burn was more personal.

15. Azealia Banks v. Troye Sivan

Troye couldn’t catch a break with rappers in 2018. During an appearance on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live, the Bloom star was asked to comment on a previous feud with Azealia. His response was fairly diplomatic. However, the rapper did not think so. She took a break from selling her asshole bleaching soaps to put her new nemesis on blast. “The white gays are obsessed,” she tweeted. “Give it a rest already. Honestly… shit is mad annoying.”

14. Stephanie Mills v. Sam Smith

Do not discredit Michael Jackson’s legacy and let Stephanie Mills hear about it. This is a lesson Sam Smith learned the hard way after the R&B veteran came for him for saying he wasn’t a fan of MJ. “Go sit your 1 HIT WONDER ass down and learn how to finish a tour,” she seethed in a since-deleted post. “When you can sell as many records as the king of Pop, Michael Jackson then maybe you can say something.” It seems Sam took that to heart and never responded.

13. 50 Cent v. Ja Rule

It’s a feud years in the making, but 50 Cent took the ultimate W in his battle with Ja Rule this October. How? According to the “Candy Shop” rapper, he bought out the front 200 tickets at his rival’s Arlington, Texas show. This may be the dictionary definition of savagery.

12. Ariana Grande v. Piers Morgan

Girl power! Ari stepped up in defense of Little Mix and women everywhere when she hit back at Piers Morgan on Twitter. The controversial radio host called out the girl group and accused them of stealing the idea for their “Strip” video from the Dixie Chicks and of using nudity to sell records. Cue Ari. “I look forward to the day you realize there are other ways to go about making yourself relevant than to criticize young, beautiful, successful women for everything they do,” she wrote. That’s not all. “I think that’ll be a beautiful thing for you and your career or what’s left of it.” Game. Set. Match.

11. Kanye West v. Drake / Ariana Grande v. Kanye

Kanye West may not be one for releasing diss tracks, but he seems to have no problem opening up about his beefs on social media. The rapper took Drake to task via a series of angry tweets, which attracted the attention of Ariana Grande ahead of the release of “Imagine.” She pointed out the absurdity of “grown men arguing online” in comparison to how she and Miley Cyrus were planning on releasing music on the same night. “if y’all could please jus behave for just like a few hours so the girls can shine that’d be so sick thank u,” she wrote.

10. Lana Del Rey v. Kanye West

Lana Del Rey was one of a slew of celebrities to disparage Kanye for his vocal support of Donald Trump following an appearance on SNL. “If you think it’s alright to support someone who believes it’s OK to grab a woman by the pussy just because he’s famous – then you need an intervention as much as he does,” the “Venice Bitch” icon wrote on Instagram. She capped off her message by paraphrasing Yeezy’s original comments. “Message sent with concern that will never be addressed.”

9. Lady Gaga v. The 99 people who didn’t believe in her

There could be 100 people in a room, and the only one who would believe in Lady Gaga would be named Bradley Cooper. At least this was the story Mother Monster put forward in a multitude of interviews while promoting A Star Is Born. Apparently, one of the 99 non-believers is Madonna, who seemed to claim ownership of the phrase in a shady upload on her Instagram story.

8. Noah Cyrus v. Lil Xan

A breakup with its roots in a nude Charlie Puth meme. When will your favs be this iconic? Noah Cyrus and Lil Xan went from buying Billy Ray drug paraphernalia and collaborating on bops to a sad end very quickly. After a fierce he-said-she-said regarding infidelity in the relationship, they went their separate ways and Noah turned her heartbreak into her Good Cry EP (after selling a bottle of her tears online).

7. Team Ariana v. Kris Wu

Ariana destroyed streaming records with the surprise release of “thank u, next.” However, she was blocked from the top spot on US iTunes by Kris Wu. Fans were confused, and, according to Variety, so were industry professionals who promised to closely monitor the situation. Arianators got so heated that Scooter Braun had to hop on Instagram to explain the situation and call for a truce that we have yet to see in reality.

6. Lorde v. Kanye West and Kid Cudi

Lorde has collaborated with Yeezy in the past. However, that wasn’t enough to stop her from hopping on Instagram to accuse him of jacking her set design following a performance with Kid Cudi. The rappers never replied, but the beef rapidly devolved into a discussion about how no one can claim creative ownership of a floating glass cube.

5. Nicki Minaj v. Travis Scott

Travis Scott, Kylie Jenner and baby Stormi got a good deal of heat from Nicki after the ASTROWORLD rapper blocked her from the top spot on the Billboard 200. Things got so hot on Queen Radio, that Kylie and Travis allegedly had their seats moved at the VMAs so as not to be in the vicinity of her glare.

4. Justin Bieber v. JoJo Siwa

Justin Bieber was forced to issue a public apology for appearing to diss pop princess JoJo Siwa on her own Instagram account. After posting a photo of a BMW that was all JoJo-ed out in her signature style, the Purpose crooner got seriously shady by commenting “burn it.” Luckily, it was not too late to say sorry. After assuring her that he was not trying to be “malicious or mean spirited,” the “D.R.E.A.M.” diva welcomed him to perform at her birthday. Future friends?

3. Bebe Rexha v. Aquaria

Bebe Rexha took to Twitter to air her grievances over a perceived snub from Aquaria and several other queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race. According to the Expectations star, they were “cold af” when she met them out of hair and makeup ahead of an event. After offering an initial apology, Aquaria proceeded to rip into the singer for expecting them to suck her toes.

2. Lana Del Rey v. Azealia Banks

I guess Lana and Azealia won’t be meeting for coffee anytime soon. The former friends went at it after the “Summertime Sadness” hitmaker dragged Yeezy for his pro-Trump rhetoric. The “212” rapper threw a fair bit of shade, but Lana definitely came out on top. “I won’t not fuck you the fuck up. Period” remains one of the best lines of all time.

Nicki Minaj

1. Nicki Minaj v. Cardi B

They may have called a truce, but this was the feud that defined 2018. From the thrown shoe seen round the world to Nicki’s disses on Queen Radio, the dueling rappers took things to another level of pettiness. Hopefully, they can channel some of that energy into a truly epic collaboration in 2019.

Did we miss any of 2018’s biggest feuds? Let us know below, or by hitting us up on Facebook and Twitter!