page_title: Nicki Minaj
section_title: 2018–2019: Queen
hierarchical_section_title: Nicki Minaj / Career / 2018–2019: Queen
caption_attribution_description: English: Nicki Minaj performs a medley of "Majesty," "Barbie Dreams," "Ganja Burn," and "FeFe" at the 2018 Video Music Awards in New York City.
context_page_description: Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, known professionally as Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-American rapper, singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Born in the Saint James district of Port of Spain and raised in the Queens borough of New York City, she gained public recognition after releasing the mixtapes Playtime Is Over, Sucka Free, and Beam Me Up Scotty.
  Early in her career, Minaj was known for her colorful costumes and wigs. Her rapping is distinctive for its flow and the use of alter egos and accents, primarily British cockney. After signing with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment in 2009, Minaj released her first studio album, Pink Friday, which peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Her second album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, was released in 2012 and debuted atop the charts in several countries. Minaj made her film debut in the 2012 animated film Ice Age: Continental Drift. In 2013, she was a judge on the twelfth season of American Idol. Minaj's third studio album, The Pinkprint, was released in 2014.
context_section_description: Minaj officially announced her fourth album, Queen, on the red carpet at the 2018 Met Gala; the album was scheduled to be released on June 15, 2018. Its lead single, "Chun-Li", was released on April 12, 2018, and peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Another single, "Barbie Tingz", was also released alongside "Chun-Li", but ultimately did not make the final album cut. It is, however, included on the Target version of the album. A promotional single, "Rich Sex", featuring American rapper Lil Wayne, was released on June 11, 2018. The album's second single, "Bed", featuring Ariana Grande, was released on June 14, 2018 alongside the album pre-order, and peaked at number 42 on the Hot 100.
  On May 19, 2018, Minaj was the musical guest for the finale of the 43rd season of Saturday Night Live; the show was hosted by Tina Fey and Minaj performed "Chun-Li" and "Poke It Out", alongside rapper Playboi Carti. Minaj later announced via her Instagram account that she was pushing back the release date of Queen from June 15 to August 10, 2018. In early June 2018, Minaj released the cover art for the album on Twitter, shot by Mert and Marcus, which features Minaj topless, wearing pasties, with a Cleopatra-inspired head-dress, and revealed that her next tour would be a double-header with rapper Future. On June 23, 2018, she performed a medley of "Chun-Li" and "Rich Sex" at the 2018 BET Awards.
  On July 22, 2018, Tekashi 6ix9ine's single "Fefe", which featured Minaj, debuted at number four, and later peaked at number three, on the Billboard Hot 100. "Fefe" marked Minaj's highest bow on the Hot 100 chart as a featured artist, besting the sixth place start of "Bang Bang" in 2014. Minaj was also featured on 6ix9ine's song "Mama", along with Kanye West. Both songs were included on 6ix9ine's debut album Dummy Boy.
  On August 1, 2018, Minaj pushed back Queen once again, to August 17, 2018. Minaj ultimately released Queen on August 10, 2018, a week ahead of schedule. The day before the release of the album, Minaj launched her own Beats 1 radio show, Queen Radio. Queen debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 185,000 album-equivalent units, of which 78,000 came from pure album sales. It also debuted at number five in the UK and at number four in Australia, marking the highest debut of Minaj's career in the latter country. Upon debuting second on the Billboard 200, Minaj expressed frustration and criticized several people in a series of tweets, including Travis Scott, whose album Astroworld claimed the top spot for a second week in a row, blocking Queen from the top spot. Queen's roll-out and the ensuing controversy was criticized by several news outlets and commentators. "Fefe" was added to the album in the middle of its first tracking week.
  Queen received generally favorable reviews, though some critics took issue with the album's length and lyrical content. Mosi Reeves of Rolling Stone wrote that Queen "brings a new Nicki Minaj character: the regal, haughty monarch, a woman who insists on sword-sharpened rhymes as a prerogative for excellence", however noted it to have "a flabby, meandering mid-section". In a mixed review, Bryan Rolli of Forbes concluded that Queen is "a great 10-song album hiding inside a messy 19-song album", though complimented Minaj's lyricism, and said the album "gives fans plenty to sink their teeth into". For The Washington Post, Chris Richards said, "Queen only feels connected to the current rap zeitgeist in the saddest way — as another portrait of a visionary rapper in decline [...] A great Nicki Minaj comeback album would be the first great Nicki Minaj album, period."
  Before her release of Queen, she did a guest appearance on VH1 TV show Black Ink Crew: Chicago which aired on August 1, 2018 where she is seen getting a tattoo from the cast member Ryan whom is an artist and owner of the shop 9Mag. Following the release of Queen, Minaj released a music video for the album's opening track, "Ganja Burn". "Barbie Dreams" was sent to rhythmic contemporary radio on August 14, 2018, as the album's third single. O
caption: Minaj performing at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards
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