Returning to the rap game after a short hiatus, Nicki Minaj released back to back premieres of “Chun Li” and “Barbie Tingz.” Her new singles are off of what she says is her best album to date, in an interview with Beats 1 Zane Lowe last month.
"This is the best album I've ever in my life created," she said. "I needed to focus and I just didn't know, you know, I wanted to make sure I was writing something that was meaningful to me and that would inspire and captivate my audience. But most importantly, I wanted to have fun again. I didn't want to see anything."
Keeping her promise, Nicki gave the green light on her highly anticipated new singles’ visuals after her suspicious Twitter countdown. The Southside Jamaica Queens rapper released the much-needed “Chun Li” and “Barbie Tingz” videos after revealing the drop time promptly being at noon via Instagram on Friday, May 4th, 2018.
The visual for “Chun Li” was inspired by the Street Fighter character which last month was entirely shot in selfie mode. With Steven Klein’s creative direction and directing duties, the video becomes more involved in theatrics, featuring Minaj as a femme fatale on a mission. The video also features the self-proclaimed Queen of Rap playing an East Asian mob boss accessorizing her wrists with the character’s spiked cuffs.
The “Barbie Tingz’s” production was directed and steered by Giovanni Bianco and Nicki Minaj herself, recruiting choreographer Aliyah Janel and taking a straightforward approach of Nicki. Displaying a multitude of colorful costumes, the recognizable Fendi two piece with hair buns, a collection of Victorian era dresses against a white backdrop over the throwback “Krush Groove” inspired beat.
The Queens rap superstar hasn’t put out an official album since “The Pinkprint” back in 2014. During her interview with Beats 1 Radio, she stated she’s been working on the follow-up since last December. Although the recording for the new documentary-accompanied album didn’t begin until December, the writing process has been ongoing for over a year and a half. Even though there’s no official release date as of yet for her comeback album - this duo treat should hold over the Barbz.
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