Nicki Minaj has shared some backstory to her latest hit, “Barbie World” featuring Ice Spice.
On Sunday (July 9), the “Starships” rapper sashayed onto the pink carpet for the world premiere of the Barbie movie in Los Angeles, where she spilled the tea on how her collaboration with the rising star came to be.
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“There were a couple songs that I didn’t love,” Nicki told Entertainment Tonight, revealing that she had her pick of the litter prior to falling in love with the winning beat.
“This ‘Barbie’ sample, I loved it. I just wanted it to have a dope drum, and so the one that they sent me, I loved! And I jumped on it right away,” she added, referencing the RiotUSA-produced track, which is built on a sample of Aqua’s 1997 smash hit “Barbie Girl.”
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The Young Money rapper also referred to being a part of the Barbie soundtrack as a “very full-circle moment,” noting how she’s “been saying ‘Barbie’ my whole career.”
Check out the interview below:
It's #Barbie tingz. 💖 Nicki Minaj reveals how her iconic "Barbie World" track for #BarbieTheAlbum came to be. pic.twitter.com/HkhZsaZzTO
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) July 10, 2023
Last month, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice linked up for their much-anticipated collaboration taken from the Barbie soundtrack. The song debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, snagging Nicki her 23rd top 10 hit on the chart and Spice her fourth.
The accompanying music video finds the pair getting all pretty in pink, riding around town together as they trade bars about how they both are just like the popular toy doll.
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“And I’m bad like the Barbie/ I’m a doll but I still wanna party/ Pink ‘Vette like I’m ready to bend/ I’m a 10, so I pull in a Ken/ Jazzie, Stacie, Nicki/ All of the Barbies is pretty/ All of the Barbies is bad It girls, and we ain’t playin’ tag,” they rap.
This isn’t the first time the New York MCs have channeled their inner pink princess. They previously joined forces for a remix of Spice’s Like..? EP cut “Princess Diana.”
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The visual saw them draped in an entirely pink look as they got up close and personal with one another in the bedroom.
Prior to its arrival, “Barbie World” experienced a bit of drama when Compton rapper Jason Martin (formerly known as Problem) accused Nicki Minaj of omitting his writing credit on the track.
During an Instagram Live last month, he claimed to have helped write the song back when it originally belonged to Saweetie, and that his credit has since been removed.
“Y’all gon’ give me what I deserve,” Martin said. “Now, if Saweetie don’t wanna trip, that’s on her … But we crafted a record that was sent over to Nicki to hop on to submit to the Barbie soundtrack.
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“She said she was gonna do it … Then all of a sudden, a new version was created. Yes, it’s a sample, you can do what you want. But n-gga, you can’t hear one thing, say you’re gonna do this, then go do your version. It ain’t happening like that.”
He added: “Anybody that’s in this business knows that that’s not how this works.”
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Directed by Greta Gerwig, Barbie stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Simu Liu, Michael Cera and more. The film’s official soundtrack drops on July 21, the same day as the movie’s U.S. theatrical release.
