Nicki Minaj has officially released her lead single from Pink Friday 2, “Last Time That I Saw You.”
After releasing her warm-up track “Red Ruby (Da Sleaze)” earlier this year, the Queens artist officially released what she’s dubbed her “greatest song yet” on Friday (September 1).
AD LOADING...
“Beggin’ me to stay, and then you walk away/There’s something that you wanted to say,” she sings on the song. “I was in a rush, but you said you were crushed/And I said, ‘I’d be back, it’s okay!‘”
Listen to “Last Time That I Saw You” below.
In a conversation with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe about the song, Nicki Minaj revealed that she didn’t plan on releasing it as a single at first.
“I knew for the album, of course, I would have to discuss certain things or whatever,” she said. “I just didn’t intend on it being a single. A lot of times people forget that I do a lot of features, and so these are not my actual songs. These are not songs from my album. And so sometimes people forget the kind of music that I’m able to create because it’s been a long time since they heard an album, and most of the times they get those kind of cuts on the album.”
She continued: “This time when I heard the beat, the first thing I did was I wrote the hook. And when I wrote the hook, to me, it felt it was… The vibe of it was really talking about a loss, a real loss you know. But to not make the song feel only directed at one kind of loss. When I wrote the singing verse, I tried to expand it and think even about relationships.”
“And then by the time I got to the rap, it was like I had included all relationships that I had lost before, because I mentioned even best friends and stuff like that. I just wanted the next song that I put out, Zane, to represent my growth, but not just as an artist, but as a human being. I’ve experienced so many things that I hadn’t experienced five years ago, and that’s just the truth.”
AD LOADING...
Minaj previously teased the sentimental track on TikTok, with fans clamoring over it in the comments.
“This is so majestic,” one fan wrote with a crying emoji. “The vocals are just amazing. The growth!”
“It’s giving 2007 Era Nicki,” another fan wrote, while a third person added: “THIS SONG IS SO REFRESHING UGH YOUR MIND/PEN NICKIII!”
Nicki Minaj first announced Pink Friday 2 back in June, and shared that her long-awaited follow-up to 2018’s Queen would serve as the sequel to her 2010 debut.
AD LOADING...
“Dear Barbz, I’ve been trying to find the right time to tell you this for a few days. Due to some really exciting news that I’ll share with you guys @ a later time, I’ve shifted the album date just a tad bit,” she wrote.
“Trust me, it’ll be WELL WORTH THE WAIT…but since I AM shifting the date just a tad, I’d like to give you guys a tiny SIP of some more album tea so that I don’t have to get cussed out so…here it goes: MY NEW ALBUM WILL BE RELEASED ON 11.17.23- And she shall be called #PinkFriday2.”
AD LOADING...
She added: “I love you guys so much. I am so grateful for the years of support & love you guys have given me. At times maybe I didn’t even deserve all that you have poured into me. Nonetheless, you. will. love. this. album.”
Nicki also revealed plans to hit the road, saying that an accompanying tour will follow early next year.
“I will give tour deets closer to that time, but obviously the tour will start around the first quarter of 2024,” she wrote. “I’ll also share the REAL album cover at a later date.”
