Nicki Minaj has weighed in on Lana Del Rey‘s snippet of a new song that takes aim at Ethel Cain, saying that she’s sure “Ethel is a nice person”, but is loving the song regardless.
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Earlier this week, Del Rey teased a new song that appeared to take a swipe at Cain, with lyrics including “Ethel Cain hated my Instagram post/ Think it’s cute reenacting my Chicago post”, before continuing: “Hard to roll in slow motion/ Hard to say no to precaution/ Hard to stop when it’s like an ocean/ Not afraid to say I’m going down in flames.”
Later in the lyrics to the new Del Rey song, the singer is heard saying: “The most famous girl at the Waffle House/ I don’t regret it/ The most famous girl at the Waffle House”. This, some fans suspect, could be another nod to Cain, as she had a feature in the New York Times in 2022, which came with the title “The Most Famous Girl At The Waffle House”.
🚨Lana Del Rey shares snippet of new music mentioning Ethel Cain:
“Ethel Cain hated my Instagram post.” pic.twitter.com/wF9TKt0Fbd
— Ethel Cain Data (@ethelcaindata) August 14, 2025
Fans have rushed to unpack what the “Instagram post” mentioned could be referring to. One suggestion has been the pair’s previous ties to musician, songwriter and producer Jack Donoghue, who Del Rey once dated.
Back in 2022, Del Rey posted a photo with him outside Cook County Jail. Cain then shared a photo of herself on X/Twitter with Donoghue, before soon deleting it.
Minaj has now lent her voice to the conversation, praising the song in a social media post. “I’ve been singing ‘Ethel cain hated my instagram post’ all morning. Help!!!!!” she wrote. “And something about the Waffle House & a picture w/some boy? But how can a melody & instruments & background vocals & the mixing be so good that I’m walking around all day talking about a person named Ethel who I do not know hating an instagram post I never even posted? HELP MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
I’ve been singing “Ethel cain hated my instagram post” all morning. Help!!!!!
And something about the Waffle House & a picture w/some boy? But how can a melody & instruments & background vocals & the mixing be so good that I’m walking around all day talking about a person named… pic.twitter.com/a9PtvK9WfW
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) August 15, 2025
“I’m sure Ethel is a nice person. *hums the melody again & drifts off into this somber state whilst looking off into the horizon*.”
While it isn’t exactly clear why the two artists seem to have beef, fans online suspect that it may relate to the fact they have often been compared musically. Some previous posts from Cain have been shared as well, including one on Tumblr where she said she was probably going to be compared to “the lady” (presumably Del Rey) until the day she dies.
There also seems to be a couple of posts where she seemingly responded to a fan who claimed “Lana Del Rey walked so Ethel Cain could run”, by writing: “I pushed her over when I ran past” and “She’ll never catch up to me in her Macy’s dress”.
Lana Del Rey is gearing up to share her anticipated 10th album, which has been renamed from ‘Lasso’ to ‘The Right Person Will Stay’.
While a release date for ‘The Right Person Will Stay’ has not yet been confirmed, Del Rey has released two tracks from the upcoming album: ‘Bluebird‘ and ‘Henry, Come On‘. It is looking like ‘57.7’ will be the next single to be shared ahead of the release.
It has been widely reported that the record will see her hone in on a country sound, and will mark the follow-up to 2023’s ‘Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd’.
Meanwhile, Cain has just released a new album ‘Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You’. In a five-star review, NME wrote: “The raison d’être of this album isn’t nihilism – it’s the pure, devotional love that Hayden Anhedönia holds for her protagonist, even through her suffering. If this truly is the end of her story, it’s hard to imagine a more heartfelt way to lay Ethel Cain to rest.”
