The beef between Cardi B and BIA has been brewing publicly for over a year now, with tension shifting from social media whispers to full-blown diss tracks. What began as speculation and calls of “style borrowing” has evolved into a messy, emotional showdown. But now both artists are in album mode, which has elevated what was once side chatter into center stage. Cardi dropped her sophomore album, Am I The Drama?, in September, while BIA followed with her debut BIANCA in October. The timing intensifies everything as they’re not just trading shots, they’re staking artistic claims.
The tension reportedly began in early 2024, when Cardi’s “Like What (Freestyle)” (which samples Missy Elliott’s “She’s a Bitch”) drew comparisons to BIA’s 2023 track “I’m That (B*tch),” which uses the same sample. Many fans on social media speculated that Cardi was taking inspiration, or worse, copying BIA’s sound. BIA subtly acknowledged some of that chatter on X with emojis, and from there, the back-and-forth.
On May 31st, 2024, Cardi hopped on the “Wanna Be” remix and dropped bars widely interpreted as aimed at BIA: “She did what?/ Had no idea/ Thought she was on the shelf, IKEA/ Hope she talk like that when I see her/ B*tch, please, don’t nobody wanna be ya”
BIA fired back soon after, posting jabs on social media and eventually releasing a pointed diss track “SUE MEEE?” in June 2024. On the track, BIA accused Cardi of cheating on Offset, and even named Cardi’s children indirectly in lyrics. Cardi threatened legal action, demanding “court receipts” rather than social media claims.
Everything boiled over when Cardi released Am I The Drama last month. The thirteenth track, “Pretty & Petty,” is her direct retaliation. She opens with “Name five BIA songs, gun pointin’ to your head/ Bow, I’m dead.”
Cardi drags BIA’s catalog, questions her awards, mocks her “melatonin flow,” pokes at booking power (“They only book you when they can’t afford Coi”), and even calls her “Diarrhea BIA.” During a Breakfast Club interview, Cardi said the line BIA crossed was mentioning her children. She emphasized, “When my kids grow up one day and they see that you mentioned them…I’m not gonna tell my kids, ‘I felt like she took the high road’…Nah…You see how I violated it.”
Notably, BIA’s album BIANCA, which was released this past weekend, contains no direct response to Cardi’s “Pretty & Petty.” On The Breakfast Club, she explained that including such diss would undermine the message and energy she invested in the project. She says she still could respond “six weeks from now, two weeks from now,” but it’s not her focus right now. She also called pursuing a feuding narrative “beneath” her, saying the clash feels old and she’s prioritizing her growth.
Fans are polarized. Some laud “Pretty & Petty” as a mic-drop moment for Cardi; others think it’s overly aggressive or manufactured. Some praise BIA’s restraint, calling her mature, strategic, or engaging in a way that avoids back-and-forth. Yet others criticize her for not matching the energy or defending herself on the album. Streaming numbers for both have reportedly risen as the drama fuels curiosity. Will we get any more diss tracks? Or will the beef die down over the next couple of weeks? Only time will tell.
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