The album's release date was pushed back twice before ultimately being released a week ahead of schedule. Queen was supported by four singles; "Chun-Li", "Bed" featuring Ariana Grande, "Barbie Dreams" and a remix of "Good Form" featuring Lil Wayne. "Fefe" was added to streaming editions of the album in the week following its release; both "Chun-Li" and "Fefe" peaked within the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100. To further promote the album, Minaj launched her own live radio program, Queen Radio (which aired on Beats 1), made several television appearances and live performances, and eventually embarked on The Nicki Wrld Tour with Juice Wrld in February 2019.
Queen received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release, who complimented the album's production but derided its length and lack of direction. It debuted at #2 on both the US Billboard 200 and Billboard’s hip-hop albums chart with 185,000 album-equivalent units initially sold (with 78,000 coming from physical album sales). It charted at #5 in Ireland, #5 on the UK albums chart (#1 on the UK R&B albums chart), #4 in Australia, and #2 in Canada. The album charted within the top-ten of other music markets, such as France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, as well as reaching the top 20 in Austria, Belgium (Wallonia), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA in January 2019.
Background and development
In an October 2016 interview, following the release of her third studio album The Pinkprint (2014) and the completion of The Pinkprint Tour in August 2015, Minaj was asked for details on her upcoming fourth album, responding, "The album is so freaking epic, but it's a journey, right? Before my first album came out, I was on everybody's song; I had my own campaign without realizing it. Right now, I have to complete a few things for other people."[2] During subsequent interviews, Minaj claimed her fourth studio album would be her "best body of work" and "a classic hip-hop album that people will never forget",[2] as well as signifying an era of her career "a billion times more epic than anything 'Anaconda' could have delivered."[3]
In October 2017, Minaj told T Magazine about her vision for the album, stating, "Sonically, I know what the album's about to sound like; I know what this album is gonna mean to my fans. This album is everything in my life coming full-circle. [...] Now, I can tell you guys what happened for the last two years of my life. I know who I am. I am getting Nicki Minaj figured-out with this album and I'm loving her."[4]
"Rich Sex", featuring Lil Wayne, is a trap song, in contrast to the R&B song "Thought I Knew You" which "sports some of Queen's lushest production".[9] In the song, the Weeknd, a featured artist on the track, contribute to the lament over estranged lovers[14] with Weeknd's "buttery tenor serving as the perfect counterpoint to [Minaj's] clipped, Auto-Tuned raps and distorted vocals."[15]Swae Lee, of hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd, is also featured on the album.[16] Brendan Klinkenberg of Rolling Stone opines that Lee steals the spotlight on this track with his "delicate falsetto" with Minaj "deploying clearly demarcated, darting verses." Minaj named their song "Chun Swae" after her collaborator. At the end of this track, Minaj boasts to her listeners "You're in the middle of Queen right now, thinking/I see why she called this shit Queen/This bitch is really the fucking queen—ahh!" before bursting into a maniacal laugh.[17]
The album's lead single, "Chun-Li" then follows. "Sir", featuring Future, was one of two tracks added after the album's release.[18]Variety described "Come See About Me" as "a soft, sculpted ballad that allows Minaj's rap-singing romanticism to nestle in a richly opulent setting."[19]Foxy Brown is featured in the track "Coco Chanel". Andree Gee from Uproxx asserted that their collaboration in the "swaggering" track remained "true to both rapper's Trini roots, with dancehall inspired drums fused over ominous keys." The song continues into the closing track "Inspirations Outro".[20]
Release and promotion
On May 7, 2018, during an interview at the Met Gala, Minaj announced the album's title and original release date, which was then delayed. It was initially scheduled for a June 15 release, but was later pushed back to August 10, and then to August 17, before ultimately being released a week ahead of schedule.[21][22][23]
Minaj made several television appearances and live performances in support of the album. On May 13, 2018, Minaj performed "Chun-Li" live during Future's set at Rolling Loud Festival in Miami.[30] She also performed the song during her Saturday Night Live season finale appearance on May 19, 2018.[31] On June 23, 2018, she performed a medley of "Chun-Li" and "Rich Sex" at the BET Awards.[32] On August 13, 2018, she appeared as a guest on The Late Show, and freestyled a personalized verse from "Barbie Dreams" dedicated to Stephen Colbert.[33] On August 20, 2018, she performed a medley of "Majesty", "Barbie Dreams", "Ganja Burn", and "Fefe" live from the PATH World Trade Center station at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards. On November 4, 2018, Minaj performed her song "Good Form" and "Woman Like Me" with Little Mix in Spain at the 2018 MTV Europe Music Awards.[34] On November 11, 2018, Minaj performed "Good Form" and "Dip" with Tyga at the 44th People's Choice Awards[35] where Queen won the fan-voted award for the Album of 2018.
Merchandise and tour bundles were sold with the album.[36] Further promotion included a co-headlining NickiHndrxx Tour with American rapper Future.[37] However, it was announced on December 21, 2018 that Future was no longer part of the tour and Minaj would tour with late American rapper Juice Wrld instead; The Nicki Wrld Tour commenced in February 2019 in Europe.[38][39]
"Chun-Li" was released on April 12, 2018 as the first single alongside "Barbie Tingz".[43] As the lead single from the album, a vertical music video was released on April 13,[44] while the official video, directed by Steven Klein, was uploaded onto Minaj's YouTube and Vevo accounts on May 4.[45] It peaked at number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart;[46][47] and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[48] "Barbie Tingz" appears on the Target Exclusive edition of the album and as a bonus track in Japan.[49] Its music video, directed by Giovanni Bianco, was uploaded to Minaj's YouTube and Vevo accounts on May 4.[45] The song peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 17 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart,[46][47] and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.[50]
"Bed", featuring American singer Ariana Grande, was released as the album's second single on June 14 along with the album pre-order,[51] and was later serviced to contemporary hit radio and rhythmic contemporary radio in the United States on June 19.[52][53] Its music video, directed by Hype Williams, premiered on July 6 on Minaj's YouTube and Vevo accounts.[54] The song peaked at number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 19 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and was certified gold by the RIAA.[55][46][47]
"Barbie Dreams" was released as the album's third single and serviced to rhythmic contemporary radio in the United States on August 14.[56] The music video for the song was released on September 11 and was directed by Hype Williams.[57] It peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and was certified gold by the RIAA.[46][47][58] "Majesty", featuring Eminem and Labrinth, and "Good Form" were scheduled to be serviced to radio as singles on October 16 and November 13, respectively.[59][60] Only the latter was released, with a remix featuring American rapper Lil Wayne, being serviced as the album's fourth single with an accompanying music video, directed by Colin Tilley, on November 29. It peaked at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 29 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart.[61][62]
Promotional singles
"Rich Sex" featuring American rapper Lil Wayne was released on June 11, 2018 as a promotional single from the album.[63] It peaked at number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 24 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[46][47]
Other songs
"Ganja Burn", the opening track of the album, was supported by a music video directed by Mert and Marcus, released on August 13.[64] The song peaked at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 27 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[46][47] "Hard White" was also supported by a music video released on February 1, 2019. Minaj announced the release of the video a day earlier on Instagram[65] along with the announcement of her Queen Fragrance.[66]
"Fefe" by American rapper 6ix9ine featuring Minaj and Murda Beatz was released on July 22, along with its accompanying music video, directed by TrifeDrew and William Asher.[67] It peaked at number three on both Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and was certified 8× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.[46][47] "Fefe" was added to the tracklist days after the album release as track number 20,[68] and only appears in the standard digital edition.
Queen was met with generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its production but derided the length of the album and the general lack of direction. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70, based on 22 reviews.[70]
In a positive review, Ella Jukwey of The Independent wrote that Queen is "the most important album of Minaj's career so far. It's the first time in her career that she has faced real opposition, and this latest record suggests that competition brings out the best in her. It may lack cohesion at certain points, but one thing is never in doubt: Minaj is still one of the best in her field."[72] Reviewing for Vice, Robert Christgau said Minaj's album and Eminem's 2018 Kamikaze record are "quick-lipped, sharp-tongued arguments for the hip-hop they and I came up on and the endangered kind of flow both excel at. And both are funny, outrageous, self-confident announcements that neither artist has any intention of going away."[77]
For Billboard, Kathy Iandoli stated that Queen "exists to exemplify Nicki's proven longevity, which is enough of a rarity to finally declare her as well-deserved rap royalty", although was critical of the album's length.[78][79] Briana Younger of Pitchfork gave the album a positive review, stating "the connections between past and present, between style and form, make Queen feel like her most creatively honest album."[74] Erin Lowers from Exclaim! gave the album a positive review, saying it highlighted the rapper's "ability to adapt to an ever-changing sonic landscape" and concluding that Minaj wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.[80]The A.V. Club gave it a B+, stating in their review, "Musically, she avoids flavor-of-the-moment trend-hopping in favor of lusher, more broadly poppy production [...] it's a lot of fun, but not quite the instant classic for which Minaj seems to have been aiming."[81]
In a mixed review, Bryan Rolli of Forbes concluded that Queen is "a great 10-song album hiding inside a messy 19-song album", though complimented Minaj's lyricism, and said the album "gives fans plenty to sink their teeth into."[9] Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times, felt that Minaj "spends so much time describing her dominance that a clear conclusion is that she fears it's beginning to erode [...] all the back-in-my-day stuff suggests a lack of confidence in her unique perspective."[82] For The Washington Post, Chris Richards said, "Queen only feels connected to the current rap zeitgeist in the saddest way, as another portrait of a visionary rapper in decline."[83] Carl Anka of NME wrote, "Unfortunately, in trying to take on all comers at once, there are parts of Queen that feel like an overreach. There is a better ten track effort hiding in Queen, but you get the impression Nicki kept tracks like 'Miami' to hedge her bets in a bid for streaming success."[73] Mosi Reeves of Rolling Stone wrote that Queen brings a new Nicki Minaj character: "the regal, haughty monarch, a woman who insists on sword-sharpened rhymes as a prerogative for excellence" but taking note of the "flabby, meandering mid-section."[75]
In an unfavorable review, The Hollywood Reporter's Jonny Coleman deemed the album "[a] joyless mess" and summarized, "Minaj doesn't really investigate any of her issues with herself or others in any meaningful way on the new album. When all is said and done, it's just another playlist of disconnected mish-mash bangers that we'll probably forget in two weeks."[84]The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber criticized the lyrical content of "Hard White", describing it as sexist and undermining Minaj's feminist position.[85] Online hip hop publication HipHopDX criticised the album for a lack of depth and its run time, saying: "There are no deep layers to be uncovered on Queen."[71]
In the United States, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 185,000 album-equivalent units, of which 78,000 were from pure album sales. The album debuted behind Astroworld by American rapper Travis Scott, which was spending its second week on top. The album dropped one place to number three in its second week, earning an additional 95,000 album-equivalent units.[87] The album dropped to the number five position on the Billboard chart in the third week, moving 64,000 equivalent units.[88] In the fourth week, Queen slipped from the number five to seven position on the Billboard charts, moving 47,000 equivalent-units.[89] In January 2019, Queen was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for 1 million equivalent units in the US.[90]
In Australia, Queen opened at number four on the ARIA Albums Chart, becoming Minaj's highest charting album in the country.[91] In Canada, the album debuted at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart, behind Scott's Astroworld.[92] It serves as Minaj's fourth consecutive top-ten album in the country.[92] In the United Kingdom, Queen debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the rapper's second top-ten album on the chart.[93] The album also reached the top ten in other music markets, such as Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and Wallonia. Queen is also Minaj's highest peaking album in France and Germany, where it debuted at number seven and eighteen respectively.
"Ganja Burn" was incorrectly titled as "Ganja Burns" upon release[citation needed]
"Fefe" was added halfway through Queen's first week
Sample credits
"Barbie Dreams" contains interpolations from "Just Playing (Dreams)", written by Christopher Wallace and Rashad Smith, as performed by The Notorious B.I.G.; samples and interpolations from "Blues & Pants", written by James Brown and Fred Wesley, as performed by Brown
"Coco Chanel" and "Inspirations (Outro)" contain elements and samples from "Bun Up the Dance", written by Dillon Hart Francis and Sonny Moore, as performed by Dillon Francis and Skrillex
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 34.Týden 2018 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
