Trinidadian-born rapper Nicki Minaj and Fivio Foreign surprised fans by releasing their previously hinted duet “We Go Up” on Pink Friday. The dynamic combo delivers massive bars over a hard-hitting drill beat while putting on a show for their community.
Minaj teased the song on social media before it was released on Friday. Streamers were given multiple versions, including an official instrumental and an extended cut. Minaj wished fans a happy Pink Friday when she announced the track’s release on Twitter.
There was no indication that it would be released, so it’s almost like a surprise. While Fivio does his usual thing on the very Brooklyn sounding song, Nicki goes in over the drill beat, experimenting with her flow throughout her appearance.
On DSPs, there are two versions available: standard and extended. There’s no word on where this will appear, but we’re guessing it’ll be on Fivio’s upcoming album B.I.B.L.E., which drops April 8th. Kanye West serves as executive producer.
The Fivio collaboration follows “Blick Blick” with Coi Leray this month and “Bussin” with Lil Baby in February. Of course, Minaj and Baby had just released their previous collaboration, “Do We Have a Problem?”
Minaj’s most recent full-length studio album, Queen, was released in 2018. The album (Minaj’s fourth) featured the era-defining single “Chun-Li,” which received mostly positive reviews. Minaj reflected on that time in her life during a 105-minute conversation with Joe Budden earlier this month, stating she now believes the release wasn’t “presented appropriately.” Minaj also stated that she now believes she wasn’t in the “proper position” at the time to release an album.
When Minaj teased “We Go Up” in a TikTok video earlier this month, she announced she had “scrapped this song” off her forthcoming album, prompting a barrage of calls for the song to be removed. According to Minaj, there was talk about Drake serving as executive producer on the new album at one time.
More About Nicki Minaj:
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-American rapper, actress, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur who was born on December 8, 1982.
Nicki was found by Lil Wayne through her mixtapes Sucka Free and Beam Me Up Scotty, and she rose to fame as a member of Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment company. “Your Love,” “Moment 4 Life” (with Drake), and the smash-hit “Super Bass” are among the tracks from her chart-topping debut album Pink Friday, released in 2010.
Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, her second studio album, extended her run with “Starships,” a song that would further refine Nicki’s pop/rap sound. Nicki achieved a Billboard milestone with “Starships,” which charted in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 for 21 weeks, a feat no other artist has achieved without the use of streaming services.
Nicki featured as a judge on American Idol between the releases of her second and third albums, and in November 2012, she reissued her second album, filling it with ten new hip-hop tunes and promoting it over the next year.
Nicki’s third studio album, The Pinkprint, was released on December 12, 2014. She dropped her “Pop facade” for this record, focusing on not only her ever-changing flows and thickening, heavier delivery, but also her subject matter and lyrical content. Vulnerability, relationship distress/abuse, betrayal, near-death experiences, parenthood, suicide attempts, drug addiction, abortion, murder, responsibility, female empowerment, sexual allegations, and entitlement are among the themes she explores on the album. It’s her highest-charting studio album to date, with a slew of hit singles, including the cultural phenomenon “Anaconda.”
Nicki released her fourth studio album, Queen, on August 10, 2018, over four years later. Nicki’s most rap-heavy album to date, although it also manages to combine R&B and pop elements, similar to Minaj’s prior effort. Nicki defends her high status in the Hip-hop community, takes shots at her detractors, reminds her listeners of her wealth and power, mocks her peers, and discusses her recent love life all in sixty-six minutes on Queen.
Nicki’s collaborations are noteworthy as well, including “Bang Bang” with Jessie J and Ariana Grande, numerous collaborations with Young Money’s “Big Three” (Nicki, Lil Wayne, and Drake), and “Monster,” a collaboration with Kanye West, Jay-Z, and others from Kanye West’s fifth album. Critics have lauded Minaj’s verse on the song, and it is credited with rekindling Nicki’s fan base. Doja Cat enlisted Nicki for their “Say So (Remix)” on May 1, 2020, which went on to become the first collaboration between two female rappers to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Nicki has 118 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 as of 2020, the most for a female artist and the fourth-most overall. She has been nominated for eleven Grammy Awards and fourteen MTV Video Music Awards, winning five of the latter. She has sold 113 million RIAA certified units, the majority of which are singles, with an additional 8.5 million albums sold.
Quotable Lyrics:
- I’m with a baddie, she love the aggression
- I’m with a demon, he wanna get reckless
- I’m showin’ them both and I’m teachin’ ’em lessons
- Now watch how I’m moving ’cause I’m the investment
- Fuck her one night and I go and get breakfast
- I don’t do paperwork or confessions (Nah)
- I don’t do internet shows or texting (Nah)
- Shoot up the party, that send them the message (Bow, bow, bow)
