Nicki Minaj has issued a reminder to fans that she was setting trends before she released her first album – and will continue to with her forthcoming fifth one.
Talking to her Barbz in a Twitter conversation on Sunday (May 7), the Queens native retweeted a fan who shared images taken in promotion of her 2010 debut Pink Friday and reflected on the era while looking ahead to her latest.
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“Imagine being a fashion icon b4 your debut album,” Minaj wrote. “Imagine performing w|Ye & Jay in Yankee Stadium, no album out, imagine Drake, Eminem, Rihanna, Ye, WillIAm, & Natasha Bedingfield on your FIRST ALBUM. bwahahaha I have to laugh. Blessings & gratitude to my supporters. NM5 is [chef’s kiss emoji]”
She then retweeted a fan who shared some of her 2020 looks and added, “Set major trends.” When another fan noted that Nicki Minaj had become the No. 2 trending topic in the United States with nearly 100k tweets, she finished off her reflection with a reminder about her legacy.
“My legacy can never be undone. On the mood boards for the last 14 years. But anyway guys let’s go back to the stats & the show footage. We’re almost there.”
Nicki Minaj is gearing up for the release of her as-of-yet unnamed fifth studio album, which will serve as the follow-up to 2018’s Queen. Though she released her Lumidee-sampled “Red Ruby (Da Sleeze)” track back in February, she confirmed in a recent episode of Queen Radio that it will not serve as the lead single off the forthcoming NM5.
“‘Red Ruby [Da Sleeze],’ I dropped it as a itty-bitty just something,” she said. “’Cause I know it’s gon’ go off on tour, it’s gon’ go off on y’all. It’s just rapping. But the album, obviously, I have to drop my official single for the album. ‘Red Ruby’ is not the official single for the album.”
In the meantime, Minaj is tearing up the charts with fellow New Yorker Ice Spice, as the pair’s “Princess Diana (Remix)” recently outsold the entire Top 25 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
According to Billboard, since the release of “Princess Diana” on April 14, it has been downloaded 77,000 times – which is the best sales week for any rap title since Minaj dropped “Super Freaky Girl” in 2022. The single has also allowed Ice Spice to nab her first No. 1 Hot Rap Song after appearing on the charts four previous times.
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In addition, “Princess Diana” has the eighth spot in chart history featuring at least two solo women, which dates back to 1989 (including rappers and singers).
Nicki Minaj has also become the rapper with the most No.1 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart because of the collab, overtaking Drake’s 13 No.1s as she nabbed her 14th. As a result, Nicki extends her record as the female rapper with the most Top 10 hits on the Hot 100 chart.
