It seems like every time a new female rapper pops up and starts to build a buzz, rap fans can’t help but pit her against another. The latest entertainers to experience this trend are Ice Spice and Latto, who fans seem eager to see duke it out, even if they have to read into lyrics, mislabel fight videos, and stretch each of their new releases to make them about the other rapper.
Most recently, with the release of Offset’s new album, Set It Off, and Latto’s appearance on its song “Fine As Can Be,” rap fans have been speculating that Latto’s verse took lyrical shots at fellow hip-hop it-girl Ice Spice thanks to a reference to Ice’s breakout hit.
“That n**** a munch, your booking fee, ate it for lunch,” Latto raps. Obviously, fans have taken the reference to “Munch,” Ice Spice’s breakout hit, to mean that the next line is about Ice Spice — which is kind of a reach. Even Victor Wembanyama is jealous.
But why exactly do fans think that Ice Spice and Latto have a feud?
Unfortunately, it probably has to do with Nicki Minaj, who’s notoriously been at the center of a bunch of rap beef, whether invented by fans, manufactured by labels, or actively encouraged by Nicki herself.
In this case, Latto and Nicki Minaj have a history of exchanging insults and accusations going back to an episode of NIcki’s Queen Radio podcast in which it seemed she seemingly called out Latto for making an unrelated comment about female rappers flourishing in recent years.
After Nicki outright named Latto’s song “Big Energy” in an angry rant about the Grammys categorizing her song “Super Freaky Girl” as pop, Latto fired back, calling Nicki a “bully” while Nicki called Latto a “Karen” (apparently, she doesn’t get the context of the term).
Their duel eventually simmered down, but with Nicki championing Ice Spice, then collaborating with her repeatedly, fans have apparently projected Nicki’s feud onto Ice Spice. (For what it’s worth, Nicki has waged war by proxy before, so this response is at least semi-reasonable.)
This has led to fans believing that Ice Spice took shots at Latto on “Butterly Ku” from the deluxe edition of her Like…? EP with a subtle reference to Latto’s “Put It On Da Floor” — a song that was widely interpreted as a diss toward Ice Spice’s benefactor Nicki (especially after the remix added longtime Nicki rival Cardi B).
So, the answer is likely “no, Ice Spice and Latto don’t have beef.” But they also probably won’t become best friends anytime soon with fans, mentors, and the recording industry stoking rumors of conflict. And as with so many pairs of women in hip-hop’s past, it’s probably only a matter of time until those rumors become reality, like a self-fulfilling prophecy that rap fans just can’t stop making.