Pink Friday 2
Pink Friday 2 is the fifth studio album by rapper Nicki Minaj, released on December 8, 2023, through Republic Records. Described as a "sequel" to Minaj's debut album, Pink Friday, it fuses sounds from various genres with hip-hop, R&B and pop. Its lyrical topics include grief, mental health, self-doubt, self-confidence, achievements, motherhood, and other contemporary reflections. The album includes collaborations with J. Cole, Drake, Lil Wayne, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, 50 Cent, Monica, and Keyshia Cole, while tracks by Billie Eilish, The Notorious B.I.G., Cyndi Lauper, Rick James, and others are sampled.
Pink Friday 2 debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, making Minaj the first female rapper in history to have three number-one albums. It earned over 200,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, with 92,000 coming from pure album sales. Internationally, it peaked in the top ten in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The album received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Minaj's consistency and innovation but criticized the use of samples.
Pink Friday 2 was supported by five singles: "Super Freaky Girl", "Red Ruby da Sleeze", "Last Time I Saw You", "Everybody" featuring Lil Uzi Vert, and "FTCU". The lead single "Super Freaky Girl" is certified double platinum in the US, and marked Minaj's first solo number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, while all the other singles peaked within the top 25. Pink Friday 2 was certified platinum in March 2024. Two extended editions of the album were released. In March 2024, Minaj embarked on the Pink Friday 2 World Tour, which became the fourth-highest-grossing concert tour by a hip-hop artist in history and the highest-grossing tour by a female rapper. Pink Friday 2 is the first album by a solo woman to win the BET Hip Hop Award for Album of the Year.
Background and development
In June 2019, Minaj mentioned on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she had begun work on a new album with no official release date at the time and stated that she had not titled it yet. In September, Minaj announced her retirement from hip-hop; however, she later withdrew her statement and apologized for her false announcement. In an interview with Elle that month, Minaj stated that the album would be, "fierce, fun, and unapologetic" and spoke about the project's ultimate sound.On June 29, 2020, Minaj tweeted, "PF2" and "MEMORIES" which went on to be revealed as the initials of the album and a song. In May 2023, she teased that the album "is the best thing that will come out of 2023 & will raise the bar to new & unreachable heights", and that its accompanying tour "will be hailed as 'genius.' That's it & that's all."
Release
On June 5, 2023, Minaj initially announced the release date of the album would be October 20. On June 29, she officially announced that the album would be titled Pink Friday 2, and that the release date would be pushed back to November 17. In September, she debuted an unreleased track from the album titled "Big Difference" during her performance at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards. On October 25, Minaj announced that the album's release date was postponed to her birthday, December 8.In November, as part of weekly surprises leading up to the album release, Minaj teased a surprise that she and her fans alike were awaiting for a long time, making her fans trend "#TellUsNicki" number one on Twitter before teasing the surprise any further. The following day, it was revealed that she was the cover feature for the December 2023 issue of US Vogue, in which she spoke about recording her new album which "was written from the vantage point of a woman who has gotten so many of the things she dreamed about".
Pink Friday 2 was released on December 8, 2023 through Republic Records, and made available for digital download and streaming as a 22-track album. The album was also available in several physical versions, which consisted of four vinyl editions and two CD variants. The physical versions only included 10 tracks, which was theorized to be because the remainder were not finished in time for pressing and release. On December 14, 2023, an extended edition, titled Gag City Deluxe, was released through Minaj's webstore and made available to streaming platforms a day later. On January 13, 2024, another extended version, labeled the Gag City Pluto Edition, was also released. In August 2024, Minaj announced a deluxe version of the album, titled Gag City Reloaded, would be released on September 13; she performed music from the deluxe during the second US leg of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour. However, on September 15, she announced that she scrapped the deluxe in favor of working on her next album.
Title and artwork
The album's title was described as a callback to Minaj's Pink Friday with Minaj also confirming it as a sequel. Minaj first shared one of two official cover arts for the album in September 2023, depicting the rapper in an all-white Vetements ensemble traveling on a roofless metropolitan subway floating above pink clouds. On October 6, she shared the second album cover, which depicted her in an all-pink gown revealing her midriff and surrounded by a billowing pink satin sheet in front of a black background. In the remaining weeks leading up to the release, Minaj shared four additional album cover variations for vinyl and digital release, all of which were shot by British photographer Charlotte Rutherford.Musical style and lyrics
Pink Friday 2 comprises a variety of sounds fused primarily with hip-hop, R&B and pop. Lyrical topics include grief, mental health, self-doubt, self-confidence, achievements, motherhood, and other present-day reflections. The album opens with "Are You Gone Already" which samples Billie Eilish's "When the Party's Over". On the song, Minaj raps about her father's death and "love, loss, guilt, and fear". This is followed by "Barbie Dangerous" which was an interpolation of the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Notorious Thugs". Billboard described the song as a "lyrical exercise for the rap legend as she breezes through the Hollywood Cole production". "FTCU" samples "Fuck the Club Up" by Waka Flocka Flame and was called a standout on the album. This is followed with "Beep Beep" and "Fallin 4 U" which are both "powered by a catchy chorus". "Let Me Calm Down" featuring J.Cole spoke on Minaj's "grievances against her lover" and "explores the complexity of adult relationships". Cole's rap echoes Minaj's where he "relates to Minaj's struggle, he takes a jab at the critics and references one of most chaotic public relationship fall-outs"."RNB" saw Minaj reuniting with her mentee, Lil Wayne, and singer Tate Kobang. The R&B song was an acronym for "Real Nigga Bitch". "Pink Birthday" was described as a "new birthday anthem" while "Needle" featuring Drake was called an anthem "oozing with island vibes". Minaj revealed that the song was originally intended for Drake's album For All the Dogs. This was followed by pop-inspired songs, "Cowgirl" featuring Lourdiz and "Everybody" featuring Lil Uzi Vert. The latter sampled "Move Your Feet" by Junior Senior. "Big Difference" and "Red Ruby da Sleeze" were both released prior to the album's release and saw Minaj boasting of her legacy and impact on the music industry. "Forward from Trini" saw Minaj showcasing her "Caribbean pride while connecting to her Trinidadian roots". Both the next songs, "Pink Friday Girls" and "Super Freaky Girl" sampled high-profile songs including "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper and "Super Freak" by Rick James. This was followed with "Bahm Bahm", "My Life" and "Nicki Hendrix" featuring Future with the second song sampling "Heart of Glass" by Blondie.
"Blessings" featuring Gospel singer Tasha Cobbs Leonard was called a "palette cleanser from the dessert section" of Pink Friday 2 and saw Minaj rapping about "giving up the glory to God". "Last Time I Saw You" was compared to Minaj's 2018 song "Come See About Me". The song has a "guitar-driven instrumental". The standard album ends with "Just the Memories" which was called an "ethereal album closer" and saw Minaj rapping about the dark hurdles of her childhood, her come-up, and her subsequent legacy.
The Gag City Deluxe edition of the album features a remix of "Beep Beep" with 50 Cent and a new track titled "Love Me Enough" with Monica and Keyshia Cole. The latter song saw Minaj rapping about "self-love, building yourself back up after a bad relationship, and ultimately putting yourself first". The Gag City Pluto edition of the album featured "Press Play" with Future.
Promotion and tour
With over $108 million in revenue based on the first 70 shows, Minaj's Pink Friday 2 World Tour concluded as the fourth-highest-grossing tour by a rapper or hip-hop artist in history, the highest-grossing tour by a female rapper, and the first among female rappers to surpass US$100 million in revenue. It also made Minaj the fifth Black female artist in history to surpass the mark from a single tour.Gag City
Prior to the album's release, Minaj's fans came together to begin an online marketing campaign and created an AI-generated city called "Gag City", which the rapper herself had previously coined and acknowledged on social media. Yahoo! Finance described the concept as "the pink metropolis inhabited by stans and brands alike," whereas Forbes described it as a "hyper-futuristic, uber-pink digital town complete with the same pink, dreamlike aesthetic featured in the album's cover art."The campaign gained major traction and saw participation from a variety of celebrities including Tyla, Bia, and Tyga. Additionally, multiple companies and brands also participated in the trend by announcing their arrival to "Gag City", including Spotify, Netflix, Bing, Converse, Genius, Amazon, Empire State Building, Chili's, Oreo, KFC, McDonald's, among others. The campaign was dubbed a "viral win" for Minaj.