Podcasters Rory Farrell and Jamil “Mal” Clay discussed Cardi B's upcoming single, Imaginary Players, and its connection to Nicki Minaj and Jay-Z during a recent episode of the New Rory and Mal show. For the uninitiated, Cardi B had recently announced that the next single, titled Imaginary Players, from her upcoming album, Am I The Drama?, will be released on August 15, 2025.The song shares its title with Jay-Z's track from his 1997 LP, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. This led fans to theorize whether Cardi's upcoming single would sample Hov's song. While the WAP rapper has yet to confirm this as of this writing, she revealed that she put a lot of effort into getting the song released in a recent social media video.During the August 11 episode of the New Rory and Mal show, the two hosts discussed the upcoming single and its potential link to Jay-Z's 1997 song of the same name. Rory theorized that the song could sample Jay-Z's track, postulating that the New York rapper might have cleared the sample to allegedly get back at Nicki Minaj."I do have a very deeper 'Barb' theory with Imaginary Players...this is a full theory...I think Cardi had an Imaginary Players beat that was a flip of the Jay-Z record, and she wanted to use it, and Hov said no, and then Nicki went on her f**king insane Des-Hov (feud)," Rory said.He continued:"And then I think Hov probably went, 'Cardi, you want the sample? I got you.' I fully think that Hov cleared the Imaginary Players sample based of everything that Nicki has been doing."For the uninitiated, Nicki Minaj has had feuds with both Jay-Z and Cardi B. Her dispute with Cardi B resulted in a supposed altercation between the two rappers at a New York fashion week party in 2018, after Cardi seemingly threw her shoe at Minaj and was stopped by the latter's security. According to The Guardian, Cardi was photographed leaving the party with a bump on her forehead.Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj's current online feud with Jay-Z has occupied social media for the past few weeks, with the former taking shots at Roc Nation (the rapper's company) and its CEO, Desiree Perez.Exploring Nicki Minaj's online feud with Jay-ZIn July 2025, Nicki Minaj attacked Jay-Z, Roc Nation, and Desiree Perez in a series of X posts. According to US Weekly, Minaj's feud with Jay-Z seemingly stemmed from her 3% equity share in Tidal (a streaming service that Jay-Z founded in 2015 and sold in 2021).In September 2024, Minaj had alleged that she did not receive her full 3% share after the sale, claiming that she was offered only $1 million, which she allegedly refused to take. In her X post on July 8, 2025, Minaj claimed that she was supposed to receive $100 to 200 million after the sale, adding that Jay-Z had to settle his "karmic debt" with her.“We’ve calculated about 100-200MM so far. #JayZ call me to settle this karmic debt. It’s only collecting more interest. You still in my TOP 5 tho,” Nicki Minaj wrote.In a follow-up post, Nicki Minaj added that she would use the money to pay her fans' student loans and education fees via her #StudentOfTheGame charity.Nicki Minaj @NICKIMINAJLINKI’m going to use some of the money #JayZ owes me to send some of my Barbz to college, pay their school fees & student loans via my #StudentOfTheGame charity.According to RapTV, she also accused Jay-Z and Desiree Perez (Roc Nation's CEO) of "ruining" hip-hop and football. The "ruining" football comment could likely be a reference to the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show, as Minaj had previously criticized the NFL, Roc Nation, and Jay-Z for choosing Kendrick Lamar instead of Lil Wayne as the headliner.In another post, Nicki Minaj accused Jay-Z and Desiree Perez of not endorsing Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election because Perez had received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump in 2021.Jay-Z has not responded to any of Nicki Minaj's claims at the time of writing this article.