"She knew not to say Onika" — Internet thinks Cardi B was afraid to say X user's name on Spaces because it sounded like Nicki Minaj's real name
X user @YSLONIKA recently shared a recording of Cardi B avoiding saying her entire username. Soon, netizens assumed it was because it sounded like Nicki Minaj's real name, Onika Tanya Maraj.
Taking to X, @YSLONIKA shared a recording to Cardi on X Spaces, where she avoided saying her entire username. Instead, the rapper said:
"Umm..YSL whatever"
Fans took to X to react to the incident, with many alleging Cardi B avoided taking Nicki Minaj's original name, Onika.
"she knew not to say onika," one X user said.
"She was scared to say Nicki name," another user agreed.
"She scared to say onika," another user chimed in.
"Onika to her is like Voldemort to the harry potter world….. SHE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED," a netizen added.
Some fans believed Cardi was "scared" to say the name:
"I think she is scared of you..," an X user wrote.
"She really didn’t want to say that lady name omg," a fan joked.
"The way she couldn’t say onika cause it would start something skksksksk," another person commented.
It is worth noting that Nicki Minaj is the rapper's stage name. Minaj was born Onika Tanya Maraj. She added her husband's surname, Petty, to her name after marriage in 2019.
Minaj revealed the story behind her stage name in an interview with The Guardian in 2012. She explained that despite choosing Nicki as her stage name, she wanted to retain her surname, Maraj. However, someone from her label recommended Minaj as a better match, and the rapper took the suggestion.
Nicki Minaj and Cardi B's feud dates back to 2017
Cardi B and Nicki Minaj have been on difficult terms since the former's early days in the industry. Cardi entered the hip-hop scene in 2015, over 10 years after Nicki Minaj's rise to fame in 2007.
In June 2017, Cardi released her single, Bodak Yellow, which opened to massive commercial and critical acclaim. It remained at the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and was voted Billboard's best female rap song of 2017.
As reported by Uproxx, Cardi's meteoric success with her single did not please Minaj's fans, who call themselves Barbz. The former had become the first female rap artist to hit No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, an honor Minaj did not hold in her career. However, Minaj did not comment on Cardi B and congratulated her on X.
Things turned sour in October 2017 when Cardi B and Nicki Minaj starred in Migos' track, Motorsports. Minaj and Cardi's scenes were shot separately while making the song's music video. According to Uproxx, Migos decided to add Cardi to the song without consulting Minaj. Further, Minaj's verse was allegedly altered due to requests from Cardi's label.
In her since-deleted tweets, Nicki Minaj addressed the incident and wrote:
"Anything w/ a my name on it gets approved by me. It can’t even go on a streaming service w/o me hearing it & giving written approval. I was on the song w/ Quavo. No one else was on it. He called & asked if I think we should put Bardi on it, I said: “ok let’s do it”. The end. Migos weren’t even on it yet. Just Quavo."
In an April 2018 interview, Minaj once again spoke about her alleged feud with Cardi B. She explained that their scenes for Motorsports were shot separately due to scheduling issues. However, she admitted being upset with Cardi B for her silence on the rumors of their beef.
"And you still did interviews just to paint Nicki as the bad person. And play the victim. And that really, really hurt me because I really fully supported her," Minaj said.
In September 2018, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B reportedly got involved in a violent altercation at the New York Fashion Week party. The WAP rapper allegedly threw a shoe at Minaj, and her bodyguards responded, leaving Cardi with a bump on her head. CBS News reported and shared a supposed video of the incident.
In September 2023, Cardi's now ex-husband, Offset, and Minaj's husband, Kenneth Petty, allegedly got involved in a feud at the 2023 MTV VMAs. Minaj hosted the event while Cardi and Megan Thee Stallion performed at the same event.
An alleged video of Petty and his crew waiting for Offset outside a building, as reported by Vibe, also began doing the rounds online. In response to the clip, Offset also shared a video of himself on a private jet, supposedly poking fun at Petty.
The video also led to a court order that sentenced Petty to 120 days of house arrest for threatening Offset. His house arrest ended in January 2024. The aforementioned incident is the last time Nicki Minaj and Cardi B have been involved in a supposed beef, as of writing.
