After a long, much talked about absence from releasing solo records, Nicki Minaj is back with not one, but two new singles. The first of the two singles, “Chun Li”, pays homage to the legendary Street Fighter character of the same name. On the record, Minaj comes out swinging at the rest of the competition by rapping, “I went and copped the chopsticks/Put it in my bun just to pop sh*t/I’m always in the top sh*t.”
On the second of her two singles, “Barbie Tingz”, Minaj channels her mixtape days with a flow and a vibe that is reminiscent of her infamous “Itty Bitty Piggy” freestyle. Minaj gets in her pocket during the second verse when she raps, “Rap bitches tell they team, ‘Make ’em like Barbie’/Had to come off IG so they can’t stalk me/All they do is copy looks, steal music too/Want to see what bitches do when they lose the blue-print/I mean the pinkprint, ho, let it sink in.”
In a short snippet of new music, Minaj appears to take shots at a particular rapper with the line, “I’ve never had to strip to get the pole position.” It’s unclear who she is necessarily talking about, but speculation has narrowed down the suspect pool to either Cardi B or Eve. Nicki Minaj and Cardi B have gone out of their way to dispel any rumors of their beef, but Eve and Nicki Minaj have done the opposite. The beef between Nicki and Eve stems back to November when Eve had a few comments about Minaj’s Paper Magazine cover. To be specific, Eve said, “I can be a voice for those girls that might not have a voice, in a different way without showing myself off…For the Nicki fans, I love her, respect her. Go women in hip hop. It’s not my thing. I just don’t think it’s right. Personally. Period. That’s it.”
With Nicki Minaj appearing to be focused and having her eyes on the crown of Hip-Hop yet again, fans can expect more to come from the New York emcee. Will it be a single? Will it be a diss track? Only time will tell. For now, enjoy “Barbie Tingz” and “Itty Bitty Piggy”.
