Nicki Minaj’s fanbase has apparently stirred trouble once more. Cardi B said in an Instagram live (archived for posterity here) that her song “Money” was released early because Minaj’s fans had already leaked it.
“I think it got leaked because, you know, sometimes when you send your records early to these streaming or these music platforms, somebody from they building leak it and everything,” Cardi explained. “Then we tried to retract it, but you know the Barbz.”
The Barbz are Minaj’s fans, and they have historically been anti-Cardi, as Cardi and Minaj have a perceived “feud.” “They always posting everything I do,” Cardi pointed out, adding, “They claim they hate me but they really love me.”
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The song arrived Tuesday, two full days before Cardi said it would be released. Though it is very much not about Nicki Minaj, the song has been fraught with the possibility that it is.
Last week, Cardi fact-checked TMZ in a since-deleted post on Instagram after the site suggested that her new song (that’s “Money”) was aimed at Minaj. This is all a result of the Cardi vs. Nicki mythology, a “feud” that reached a peak at New York Fashion Week this September. Incidentally, Minaj also recently leaked a song, a track from Queen that was previously unreleased. As a result, Minaj is reportedly being sued by singer Tracy Chapman.
The business of releasing music is tricky, but the business of feuding as musicians is even trickier.