When asked about the use of his 1992 record “Baby Got Back” on Nicki Minaj’s newly-released track, “Anaconda,” Sir Mix-a-Lot went on to praise the Queens rapper for her work ethic. After encouraging artists to use his record, he detailed the moment he was made aware of the fact that Nicki would be using his song for her single.
He then doted on the “Anaconda” creator for being “a beast in the studio” at a time when there’s “a lot of lazy artists” out.
“That’s what I like, man. Use it, use it, use it,” Sir Mix-A-Lot said when asked about Nicki’s use of “Baby Got Back.” “We had heard about it through Universal because we have a mutual relationship with Universal Music. So, Universal told us about it. Then Nicki gave us a call. Talked to Nicki on the phone. She was a beast in the studio, man. I was impressed. Work ethic means a lot to me because I know a lot of lazy artists right now. [They] just sit around and wait for the producer to finish. And it was cool that she called up. Talked about it. She was vibing on the song. She actually had another version first. And then I heard the new version when everyone else did. She’s good at keeping her mouth shut, man…I have a whole new level of respect for her because of that record.”
Sir Mix-a-Lot, who says he’s now a Nicki Minaj “fan for life,” later spoke in detail on the alternate version the Young Money artist had prepared for “Anaconda.” The rapper also revealed that he knew the song would be a hit before it was even released.
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“It was similar, but she was trying to find a chorus,” he said. “That was her thing. She said ‘I need to find a chorus. I gotta come up with something.’ And she kept bouncing it back and forth on her phone. I had no idea what she was gonna come with. I knew she was gonna use ‘Baby Got Back.’ But I had no idea that the ‘Anaconda’ thing—When I heard the title I knew already. I said ‘Oh yeah, that’s a hit.’ I knew it.”
Later in his interview with Vlad TV, Sir Mix-a-Lot recalled shooting the music video for “Baby Got Back” and not being able to use the women he preferred for the visual. He then labeled Nicki’s “Anaconda” the “new and improved version” of “Baby Got Back.”
“It was the new and improved version,” Sir Mix-a-Lot said. “Because when I did mine the girls that had the nice asses in my video I wasn’t allowed to use. Right? So, they bumped a lot of ‘em. And we ended up using girls that didn’t really have asses. But this is a new era. And Nicki’s in charge. How they gonna say ‘no’ to a woman talking about some asses? Beautiful. If I could’ve just been on the set that would have been cool with me.”
