The three songs Nicki Minaj regrets: “Why did I do that?”
Nicki Minaj is one of the most successful rappers of her era, and, indeed, of all time. She is one of the best-selling artists in the world, but three of the songs that helped to transform her into this immensely successful star are actually sources of regret for her. She just doesn’t like them.
As debut albums go, Pink Friday is about as successful an effort as a musician could ever hope for. It went straight to number two on the US Billboard 200, making it the best-selling debut for a female rapper since Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and it later climbed to number one. Powered by its lead singles, ‘Your Love’, ‘Check It Out’, and ‘Right Thru Me’, the album was a wild success for Minaj.
But, even though Pink Friday sparked Minaj’s rise to superstardom, one of its biggest hits was one that she would come to regret. As she revealed during an interview with Pollstar in 2020, “My first ever solo song on Billboard was ‘Your Love’. To this day, I like the video, but I hate the song.”
But that wasn’t all. “I could go on and on,” as she put it, reflecting on all of her tracks that she feels don’t stand up. There is a self-critical streak in Minaj.
Album number two came in 2012, with Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded also finding massive commercial success. This second record also hit number one on the Billboard 200, and it featured a range of singles that landed well with audiences and were successful in their own right. But lead single ‘Starships’ isn’t one Minaj remembers too fondly.
“I hate ‘Starships’,” she said, not holding back. “I was like, ‘Why did I do that?’ I really think that every time I hear it.”
‘Starships’ is one of her signature hits, and it stayed in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 for 21 weeks in a row, albeit without ever rising to number one. But, still. It was a massive track for her career, yet it seems she despises it.
The third song that she mentioned as a source of regret in that Pollstar interview was ‘Anaconda’, which featured on her 2014 third album The Pinkprint. This, again, was a hugely successful track, debuting at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and otherwise becoming a major hit all around the world. It was nominated for a Grammy for ‘Best Rap Song’, and it generally became a touchstone for popular culture of the era. But Minaj isn’t fond of it.
Admittedly, the video helped to propel the song’s success, which Minaj acknowledged while she was criticising the song. “I like the video but…” she said, trailing off and leaving her sentiment hanging in the air. But she’d said enough. ‘Anaconda’, along with two of her other biggest tracks, ‘Your Love’ and ‘Check It Out’, just aren’t to her liking.