Drew’s Review: Unpacking Remy Ma vs. Nicki Minaj

For the first time in her nearly decade-long career, Remy Ma was a main topic of conversation for hip-hop fans outside New York City. On Saturday, Feb. 25, Remy Ma released a diss track attacking Nicki Minaj called “shETHER.”

“shETHER” flips the classic Nas diss track aimed toward Jay-Z called “Ether.” Like “Ether,” “shETHER” disregards any notion of song structure and melody, opting instead for a seven-minute onslaught designed to embarrass and expose Nicki Minaj.

The insults Ma hurled at Minaj included accusations of cheating on her longtime ex-boyfriend with Ebro (a Hot 97 radio personality), Trey Songz and Lil Wayne. Additionally, Ma accused Minaj of not authoring her own raps, one of the biggest faux pas in rap since the advent of the genre.

The attack was met with unanimous praise, immediately inspiring conversations about it being ranked among the greatest diss tracks of all time.

“shETHER” appears to be a response to a pair of Nicki Minaj feature verses on Jason Derulo’s “Swalla” and Gucci Mane’s “Make Love.”

However, the entire tone of the beef changed when Remy Ma released a second diss track, “Another One,” all without a musical acknowledgement from Minaj.

This strategy has found recent success — most notably when Drake released “Charged Up” and “Back to Back” without a response from Meek Mill.

But Remy Ma’s “Another One” is a clear flip, and worse version, of Drake’s “Back to Back,” both in rhyme patterns and production.

It’s as if Remy Ma walked into the studio and told the producer, “Ya know, ‘Back to Back’ was dope, but you know what it’s missing — a violin.”

Fans are still awaiting a Minaj response, though the pressure is off due to the dud that is “Another One.”