Nicki Minaj’s Starships: Release Date and Controversy Over NYE Performance

Nicki Minaj, whose full name is Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, has earned her title as the queen of rap for a multitude of reasons. With nearly 15 years of rapping under her belt, she has achieved an impressive record of hit songs that is challenging to replicate.

The artist behind Pink Friday boasts an astounding 23 tracks that have landed in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, making her the only female rapper to achieve this milestone. Some of her most popular singles include Say So, Super Bass, Bang Bang, Turn Me On, and Starships.

However, like many artists, Nicki Minaj has expressed dissatisfaction with certain tracks from her discography. Notably, she has openly stated her regret over some of her songs, including Starships.

Featured on her second studio album – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – the song Starships was released on February 14, 2012.

Despite its commercial success, ranking among the Best-selling Singles of All Time with 7.2 million copies sold by December 2012, Nicki’s feelings towards the track are far from positive. Earlier this year, she made her discontent clear when she left out Starships from her performance setlist.

Nicki Minaj declined to perform Starships at a 2024 NYE show

In December 2023, during a New Year’s Eve concert in Miami, Minaj notably halted her performance as Starships began to play. Gesturing to her tech team to cut the music, she remarked to the crowd:

“Sikes! I don’t perform that song no more, y’all.”

Despite some audience members booing her decision, Nicki remained resolute, dismissing the song as “stupid”and adding:

“I don’t like it, what y’all want me to do?”

This exchange led her devoted fans, the Barbz, to speculate that the hit would not be part of her upcoming Pink Friday 2 world tour, which has since been confirmed.

Nicki Minaj first voiced her aversion to Starships in 2019 during a Q&A at Pollstar Live, where she reflected:

“So much of my discography… I wish I never recorded ‘Anaconda.’ I like the video but ugh… I hate ‘Starships,’ I mean ew, ‘Starships?’ I’m like, ‘Why did I do that?’ I really think that every time I hear it.”

Despite her negative feelings towards Starships, both Anaconda and Your Love have enjoyed enormous success, establishing Minaj as a commercial powerhouse in the music industry.

Starships remains one of the most successful tracks of Nicki Minaj’s career

Starships marked Nicki Minaj’s first foray into party-pop music and significantly boosted her career upon its release. The track debuted at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became the standout song from her sophomore album, remaining on the chart for an impressive 31 weeks.

Later that same year, it earned Nicki her first and only Best Female Video award at the MTV VMAs.

Due to its massive popularity, Starships was also featured in popular video games such as Dance Central 3 (2012) and Just Dance 2014. Today, it remains one of the most viewed music videos on Nicki Minaj’s YouTube channel.

While Nicki Minaj’s sentiments towards Starships may have evolved as she has developed as an artist, at the time of its creation, she expressed great joy about the song’s production. In a 2012 MTV interview, she shared her experience creating the track, saying:

“There was so much love surrounding the making of the song, because RedOne is just so sweet to work with… He just sent me that one day, and he said, ‘Hey, I got something for you!’ I was like, ‘You got to be kidding me, right?’”

Nicki continued:

“I went to the studio and started writing. .. scratch that. .. I didn’t even write the first verse! That was just me mumbling and just saying the first thing that came to my head, and we recorded it, because I just felt like: ‘Let’s go to the beach. .. let’s go get away.’ It was just so good. It feels good!”

Even though Starships was omitted from the setlist of Nicki Minaj’s upcoming world tour, the tour itself has proven to be a financial triumph, set to conclude in Elmont, New York, on October 11.

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