Doja Cat's latest track, "Demons," has ignited a debate not only due to its satanic-themed music video but also over perceived references to rap veteran Nicki Minaj.

In the first verse of the song, Doja Cat raps, "We are enemies. We are foes. Who are you? And what are those? You are gross. Percocet got you playing with your nose." The mention of Percocet immediately raised eyebrows, as it seemed to allude to Nicki Minaj, who has been seen in many live videos sniffling, snorting, and rubbing her nose, leading to speculation about drug use.

Doja Cat isn't the first artist to hint at Nicki Minaj's alleged drug use in her lyrics. Latto famously coined the term "It's giving coke" in reference to Minaj.

Megan Thee Stallion also sparked rumors when she mentioned "feeling yourself, put down dem percs" in her song "Gift and a Curse," which some believed targeted Minaj, who had a song titled "Feeling Myself" with Beyonce.

Given these prior shots fired at Minaj by her peers regarding drug allegations, many fans felt that Doja Cat was continuing this trend and taking a jab at the self-proclaimed queen of rap.

Furthermore, in "Demons," Doja Cat refers to herself as "queen," a title that Nicki Minaj has famously monopolized. This only added fuel to the speculation that the song contained veiled references to Minaj.

Doja Cat also raps about someone being "tired" of her because she's "on their ass" as she is the one in demand and "stealing the spotlight." She claimed that these lyrics were aimed at deranged fans, not Minaj.

That makes no sense at all but that's her story and she's sticking to it.

In response to the controversy, Doja Cat took to her Instagram to deny dissing Minaj or any fellow rappers. She wrote, "People don't wanna accept I'm dissing them so they try to pin it on Cardi, Nicki and Meg and every other female rapper. I don't diss rappers, I diss critics. Stay bored, stay reaching."

In another post, she added, "I don't diss people I'm inspired by. I don't diss people I look up to. I don't diss people who don't attack and harass me every day. Y'all do. She doesn't. They don't. Y'all are the problem."

Despite her denials and insistence that she is targeting fans in her music rather than fellow artists, some remain skeptical. One fan argued, "She knows people have been subbing Nicki about using percs and coke. She knew exactly what the reaction would be when she put that in a song."

In her song "Get Into It Yuh" Doja expressed her love for Minaj. But in the music video, at the very moment she says she loves Nicki, she shows a grotesque alien creature which she proceeded to slap into unconsciousness.

Minaj's fans had called Doja Cat out at the time, questioning the intent behind this imagery.
Perhaps Doja Cat is pulling a move Minaj herself uses by dissing her peers in her music and acting innocent when called out.
Some may call it "throwing rocks then hiding your hands."

Whatever it is, it is a great strategy to get people talking about her music.