Queen is back, y’all!
Nicki Minaj reclaims her hip-hop crown with her eagerly awaited fourth album, aptly named Queen
Best work yet Queen is her first studio album since 2014’s The Pinkprint and marks a major return for the 35-year-old. It features a bunch of musical styles, from trap to rap, as well as some of the biggest names in the biz – including longtime collaborator Ariana Grande, Future, Eminem, Foxy Brown, The Weeknd and her mentor, Lil Wayne, who features on the track Rich Sex.
Nicki says it’s her best body of work to date, and most of her fans agree. “This album is everything in my life coming full circle and me being truly, genuinely happy. It feels almost like a celebration,” she told Billboard magazine. “This is definitely the most inspired and free and excited I’ve been since I started releasing albums through a label.”
The Chun-Li hitmaker is set to follow it up with a world tour and documentary featuring a behindthe-scenes look at the making of Queen. Haters shmaters Nicki is no stranger to controversy, from her highly publicised beefs with other female rappers such as Cardi B and Lil Kim to her latest drama involving her former long-time boyfriend, rapper Safaree Samuels. He’s accused her of assault – he says she stabbed him during a domestic dispute, to which she’s responded that he’s lying and he stole her credit cards.
But she’s gone on record saying her strong relationship with God has helped her to laugh off her critics. “I’ve watched Him work miracle after miracle in my life,” she told Capital FM last year.
“I’ve watched Him shut down every person who’s ever come up against me, and so it’s comical at this point ’cos I sometimes feel like, ‘Wow.’ Don’t they know how this movie’s gonna play out? ’Cos I definitely know how this movie’s gonna play out.” Single and proud Her split from rapper Meek Mill last year has left her feeling empowered . . . and like a queen! “Becoming single was one of the things that made me feel strong and powerful again. I remember feeling like I could do anything at one time in my life and then somewhere along the line I just started second-guessing myself, for whatever reason . . .
“As soon as I realised I could actually live and breathe, and eat and sleep, and walk and talk without having a boyfriend, something clicked in me. I’m a young woman who doesn’t need a man for money or a job. I get up when I want, shop when I want.”
Nickiisthe femaleartist themosttop entriesonthe BillboardHot chartinthe past decade.