The year is 2010. Drake and Nicki Minaj both release their debut albums through Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records. The game is shifting and we don't know exactly what it's going to look like, but we know it's exciting and we have Lil Wayne to thank. In a historic move, Weezy introduced two artists to the world that went on to become household names and continuously grow bigger over the following decade. Their music crossed over into mainstream, producing countless hits and breaking countless records in the process. 

Actually, you can count their hits and this quantification just resulted in another clenched title for the rappers. Nicki Minaj's new promotional single "Yikes" has just entered Billboard's Hot 100 at #23, placing her in the company of Drake and Lil Wayne as the rappers with the most charting singles in history. 

Nicki Minaj is really out here promoting her new single “Yikes” in the most Nicki Minaj way possible — by twerking in bed with absolutely no clothes on. The hyper-sexualized rap superstar has been at it for years, flaunting her massively-large booty which, at times, has appeared almost inhuman. The Queens rapper may have told fans that she was slowing down her artistic output last year to focus on building a family but, after teasing that she has a lot to celebrate this week, she came right back with some natural promotion for her fresh record, blasting it in her bedroom, stripping off her clothes, and bouncing her cheeks to the music.

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“Hoe shit,” captioned the recording artist on the video, which surely cannot meet Instagram’s privacy guidelines. The clip starts off with Minaj controlling each side of her buttocks, combatting her critics from that Megan Thee Stallion video last year. She holds herself up on all fours with the light off in the room before, all of a sudden, the lamp is activated and her body is fully revealed. If you’re at school or work, hold off on watching this one. Even if you’re in the room with other people, we’d suggest only clicking play if you know that absolutely nobody is creeping on your screen. This is wildly NSFW.

Does Nicki Minaj have your attention yet? Are you going to stream “Yikes” right this instant?

The Barbz were excited on Monday (February 10) when Nicki Minaj shared her 17th episode of Queen Radio. The “Yikes” rapper spoke with her “Tusa” collaborator Karol G and 50 Cent even dropped by as a special guest. Fans were able to speak with the rapper directly and ask questions that they’ve been dying to get answered, including one person who was curious about a certain Top Dawg Entertainment emcee.

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A fan asked Nicki why she and Kendrick Lamar have yet to work together. She jokingly replied, “The reason why I haven’t collaborated with Kendrick Lamar yet is because he don’t want to get washed.” Then, she went on to praise K-Dot’s skills. “I’m a big fan of him and his talent and I’m looking forward to collaborating with him one day hopefully because he’s animated and I like the animation. And also, he just respects the craft of rap. At this time right now…yeah that’s all I’ll say about that.”

Years ago, Nicki named dropped Kendrick in her song “Make Love” when she rapped: “B*tch I’m the greatest, no Kendrick and no Sia/ I’m the iPhone, you the Nokia.” Later, Kendrick took to Twitter to give Nicki a shout out for the mention, “I love it Nicki Minaj. ???.” Would you want to hear a track from Nicki and Kendrick?

Nicki Minaj is back in the spotlight after a brief hiatus, and her return has already brought a mountain of chaos. Following a vicious online spat with ex Meek Mill and a massive controversy over a Rosa Parks lyric in her then-unreleased promo single, "Yikes," Nicki has somehow fit a year's worth of drama into less than a week's time, but the Queen is choosing to focus on the music. After "Yikes" was met with major praise from ecstatic fans following its release on Friday, Nicki took to Twitter to interact with the Barbz, the name that her stans assigned themselves as a reference to one of her many alter egos, Barbie. Nicki told fans that she'll be introducing yet another alter ego on her upcoming album that will serve to set the tone for her new era: Queen Sleeze.

Last week, in the realm of hip hop releases, we were able to dedicate most of our focus to Lil Wayne‘s album, Funeral, as it was a week otherwise filled with new singles. This week, that is not the case. We got blessed with a bunch of great projects and we’re thrilled to add some of their hottest cuts to our Spotify playlist, “FIRE EMOJI”. 

Pop Smoke is one of the most buzzing rappers in the game right now, so it was an ideal time for him to follow last July’s Meet The Woo EP with a full-length sequel. Meet The Woo 2 boasts thirteen tracks and a bunch of features. Pop Smoke enlisted fellow up-and-comers like Fivio Foreign and Lil Tjay for earthquake-inducing bangers, but he also collaborates with heavy-hitter Quavo to “Shake The Room”. The beat was too crazy on that one to not include it in our playlist. 

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While we knew Meet The Woo 2 was coming, Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats caught us by surprise on Friday with their collaborative project, UNLOCKED. The rapturous tracks came accompanied by an animated short film that you must see and may have raised the bar for creative rollouts in 2020. Kenny Beats, whose producer tag is ubiquitous these days, furnishes the Miami rapper with ferocious beats that match his uncontainable energy. “DIET_” is a perfect example that these two pair perfectly. 

Last but not least, we have a single for you. Not just any single, but a Nicki Minaj single. The queen herself came out of semi-retirement this week to drop off “Yikes”, a song title that is fitting given the scandalous week she had, but we’re not gonna get into that now. This is about “Yikes”, a searing assertion that Onika cannot be played with. God bless The Barbz for bullying her into completing and releasing the track this week. 

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It's a widely-known fact that Nicki Minaj has one of the most loyal and lethal fanbases in music. The Barbz will tear the throats of anyone who comes for their queen and will readily list off her accolades to put any detractors in their place. While it must be comforting for Nicki to have these troops in her corner, their intense fanaticism can sometimes turn on her. The rapper should have known that when she previewed a new song earlier this week that The Barbz would pressure her into releasing it ASAP. 

Unsurprisingly, the intimidation tactics worked and "Yikes" was shared with the world on Friday. In a Twitter Q&A with fans celebrating the single's release, Nicki admitted that the hounding by her stans - and consequently Cash Money Records - led to her rushing the completion of "Yikes". After being asked how the song came about, Nicki explained, "I was playing a snippet for my crazy fans & they made me put it out. They are bullies. I only had 1 verse done. The label bullied me too. I’ve been bullied."

Nicki Minaj has been making headlines lately for a multitude of reasons, but she made sure that everyone was focusing on the music when she dropped "Yikes" this Friday. Though she indicated that the song is merely promo track and will not be serving as the first official single from her upcoming album, the response to "Yikes" has been insane.

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After teasing a snippet of "Yikes" on Instagram earlier this week, which sparked controversy after a line about Rosa Parks was deemed disrespectful, Nicki bestowed the highly anticipated track on the masses, and it looks like she's been given more than just the seal of approval. Twitter declares that the Queen is back and that "Yikes" has marked her official return to the throne.

The past few days have been quite eventful in the world of Nicki Minaj. Possibly as eventful as you’d expect a media cycle with Nicki Minaj in it. The rapper and her ex-boyfriend Meek Mill had a little run-in last week before the Internet exploded with allegations of abuse, rape, child molestation and more. In addition, Nicki previewed a new song with Kenneth Petty vibing out in the background. That also found Nicki facing backlash over a reference to Rosa Parks.

Regardless of how you feel, Nicki will still be unleashing the single tonight. The rapper shared the official cover art for the song earlier today. Nicki and Kenneth are seen in the foreign with Kenneth behind the wheel and Nicki riding shotgun waving at the paparazzi. It’s unclear what this may signify but surely, it will strike some sort of dialogue surrounding how it’s a slight towards Meek Mill. However, we’re excited to hear the full version of the song.

It does feel like it’s been a minute since Nicki’s blessed us with something new. Perhaps this is a sure sign her album is coming soon. In addition to previewing it while in the studio, she also shared a snippet of it inside the club, later sharing a clip of it on Instagram. Peep the cover art to her song below. 

Just because she claimed that TMZ‘s initial report about her Rosa Parks lyric wasn’t true doesn’t mean the outlet was finished talking about it. Following the social media backlash over Nicki’s “All you b*tches Rosa Parks, uh-oh, get your ass up” lyric from the snippet of her unreleased track “Yikes,” TMZ wrote that Nicki was aware of how upset people were. They reported that they spoke with sources close to Nicki who stated the rapper never intended for the lyric to be disrespectful, especially on Parks’ birthday (February 4).

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Later, Nicki took to her Instagram Story to blast the outlet. “Never said this. Had no clue anyone was mad. Don’t care. #Yikes,” she wrote. In their own way, it seems that TMZ is making sure they get the last word in because they’ve made yet another report about this topic, except this time they’ve actually spoken to Rosa Park’s family member to get their opinion on the matter.

TMZ received a quote from the Civil Rights leader’s nephew William McCauley that stated: “It was both heart breaking and disrespectful that Nicki Minaj would have a lyric in a song that can be used negatively when mentioning someone who provided her the freedoms that she has today.” They also claim to have spoken to Anita Peek, the executive director at the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.

The publication reported that Peek, who worked closely with Rosa, said the late Civil Rights icon would “be extremely hurt by Minaj taking her bus protest — one of the most significant moments of the Civil Rights Movement — and putting a negative spin on it for a song, even if she was just trying to be clever or funny.”

Peek reportedly also urged Nicki to study the historical account of Rosa Parks and her refusal to give up her seat on the Montgomery, Alabama bus that led to the 381-day boycott.

There may have been a bit of controversy on Tuesday (February 4) over Nicki Minaj‘s lyric about Rosa Parks, but according to the rapper, she had no idea people were upset. The rapper took to her Instagram to share a snippet of her song “Yikes” that included a bit about the later Civil Rights Movement icon and as far as she was concerned, her fans were excited.

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“All you b*tches Rosa Parks, uh-oh, get your ass up,” Nicki rapped in her preview that circulated on Parks’s birthday. Then, TMZ shared a report where they wrote, “Sources connected to the femcee tell TMZ … Nicki’s aware of the heat she’s been catching from folks after releasing a snippet of a track she’s been working on called ‘Yikes.’

They added that Nicki didn’t mean to disrespect the Civil Rights leader in any way, especially on her birthday, but Nicki took to her Instagram Story to shut down TMZ‘s claims. According to Nicki, she wasn’t even aware there were any rumblings about the line. “Never said this. Had no clue anyone was mad. Don’t care. #Yikes,” she wrote. 

It’s been a busy day for the Queen rapper as she went back and forth on Twitter with her ex-boyfriend Meek Mill in a scathing exchange. She would later make an appearance at the Pollstar Live Conference where she joked that she was hacked. Check out her “Yikes” snippet below.