Nicki leads the rap competition with her single. she won’t stop with one win
Nicki Minaj has rocketed to the top of the charts with her first solo single of 2023, Red Ruby Da Sleeze, following the success of her hit single Super Freaky Girl.
The rapper and singer now has back-to-back number one debuts on the Top Rap Songs list thanks to the new release, which is the second single off her upcoming studio album NM5.
Like she did with Super Freaky Girl, the pop artist used her social media networks to post brief advertisements leading up to Red Ruby Da Sleeze on March 3.
The track is a further sample-driven banger that borrows some of the 2003 hit Never Leave You (Uh Oh) by Lumidee, the lead single from her debut album Almost Famous.
Ruby’s ascent to the top of the chart was fueled mostly by 41,000 pure sales in the first week, the highest number of sales for a hip-hop song this year.
It comes in second place among all musical genres, only behind Flowers by Miley Cyrus, which sold an astounding 70,000 copies.
Super Freaky Girl, which samples the 1981 hit song Super Freak by the late funk rocker Rick James, was released last August as the first single promoting NM5.
It immediately rose to the top of the charts, becoming Minaj’s third U.S. number one and her first standalone number one.
One of the biggest songs of the year, it ended up dominating the Hot Rap Songs chart for 11 weeks in 2022.
It also contributed to music history by being the first solo female rapper since Lauryn Hill’s «Doo Wop (That Thing)» in 1997 to debut at number one on the Hot 100.
After Ruby’s first release, Minaj made the decision to create an expanded version called the Roman Remix, which brings back her alter persona Roman Zolanski.
Roman Zolanski, a modified version of the name Roman Polanski, has been referred to as her «twin brother» and «a demon inside her» who comes to the surface when she gets upset.
After thinking back to her youth and how she used personas to escape difficult situations like her parents’ frequent arguing, MInaj got the notion to develop alter personalities in her music.
The term «the fifth thing thing» was first used by Minaj in the song «Barbie Going Bad» in February 2019.
In the song, Minaj mentions that her fifth album has been recorded and that her label wants her to release the lead single from it.
NM5 is anticipated to drop in 2023, while there is currently no formal announcement of the date.
Minaj was most recently named No. 10 on Billboard’s Best Pop Stars of 2022 list and No. 7 on Billboard and Vibe’s list of the 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time.
