Nicki Minaj Reveals Why She Doesn't Want to ‘Rush' Into Her Next Album
Nicki Minaj's last album arrived with her Pink Friday 2 to close out 2023, and she's laid low for much of 2025 so far on the music side. Gracing the cover of Vogue Italia on Tuesday (May 27), Minaj opened up about the creative process heading into her next LP.
While the Queens legend has a collection of songs she's proud of, Minaj is in no rush to release her next body of work until the time is right and aligns with her life.
More from Billboard
Nicki Minaj Details the 'Proud Period' That Inspired Her 2025 Met Gala Look
Zak Starkey Clarifies That He Was Not Fired From The Who (Twice) But Rather 'Retired'
Tom Morello Joins Team Springsteen, Rages Against Donald Trump During Festival Set: 'F-k That Guy!'
'I've got a bunch of really strong tracks, but I don't want to rush,' she explained. 'I want the record to mean something, both for the fans and for me. I'll never be one of those people who puts out songs just to put them out. I love music. I respect it.'
When that time does come, she plans on hitting the road once again. 'To experience it all again, as soon as possible. For me, and for the Barbz,' she added. The Pink Friday 2 World Tour earned Minaj the honor of having the highest grossing rap tour for a woman.
Elsewhere in the interview, Minaj revealed that she actually initially hated how she looked in the viral 'Did I Lie' video, which was born from a CRWN interview in 2018 surrounding the rollout of Queen with Elliott Wilson.
'I hate how I look in that video,' she said. 'When people started using it I thought, 'I'm blocking you all!' Then I gave in — it's actually pretty funny.'
Minaj hasn't made many public appearances this year, but she did pop out at the 2025 Met Gala earlier in May, as the Young Money rapper stunned in a Thom Browne navy pinstripe mermaid dress. 'It reminded me of putting on your Sunday's best and being iconic in your own world,' she told Entertainment Tonight of her attire.
Pink Friday 2 arrived with much fanfare in December 2023. The project debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 228,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 14, according to Luminate. That figure is the largest week for a rap album by a woman in the 2020s.
See Nicki's Vogue Italia cover below:Best of Billboard
Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1
Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits
H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
4 hours ago
- USA Today
Fuerza Regida on making history, performing in LA amid turmoil
Beyond hard work and humility, manifestation has been part of Fuerza Regida's recipe for success. Frontman Jesús "JOP" Ortiz Paz remembers watching "Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento" (the Latino version of "America's Got Talent") with his parents at home in San Bernardino, California, and saying, "I'm going to be on that TV. I'm going to be right there," he tells USA TODAY. "Ah, you're crazy," Paz, 28, says his parents responded. That was during a June 2023 interview with USA TODAY ahead of Fuerza Regida's sold-out show at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, part of their "Otra Peda" tour. Fast forward two years, and the band finds itself reaching new career heights. Fuerza Regida − Paz, along with Samuel Jáimez, Khrystian Ramos, José "Pelón" García and Moisés López − makes its historic debut at both New York's Madison Square Garden June 20 and LA's Hollywood Bowl June 21. They'll be performing their latest album, the 12-track "111XPANTIA," in its entirety. "Us bringing corridos to these venues, I'm pretty sure it's for the first time, so we're really happy that our genre is growing and growing," Paz says ahead of the shows. "We're excited, we've been breaking all these records and making history." Interview: Fuerza Regida on Mexican music going global and why they're the pioneers In May, the all-genre Billboard 200 album charts, saw for the first time Spanish-language albums in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots at the same time − Bad Bunny's "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" and Fuerza Regida's "111XPANTIA," respectively. More than that, it marked Fuerza Regida's highest-charting album to date, and the highest-charting Spanish-language album by a duo or group, or a regional Mexican music album, ever, according to Billboard. With nearly a decade in the industry under their belt, reaching the top of the charts isn't new territory for the group members anymore. Their 2023 album "Pa Las Baby's Y Belikeada" peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's Latin Albums chart and reached the Top 15 of the Billboard 200, and also earned them a pair of awards — Top Duo/Group and Top Latin Duo/Group at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards. With 2024's "Pero No Te Enamores," the band's eighth studio album, Fuerza Regida dabbled in Jersey club music, reggaeton, hip-hop and bachata and embarked on a 76-date tour. Manifestation brought Fuerza Regida new album '111XPANTIA' to life Before Fuerza Regida made its mark in arenas and stadiums all over the United States and Latin America, the band was performing small gigs in backyards and at quinceñeras in 2016. Now, the band boasts numerous chart-topping albums, sold-out stadium and arena shows, multiple brand deals (including their latest partnership with Dos Equis for the Ni Perdón Ni Permiso campaign) and performances on late-night talk shows like "Jimmy Kimmel Live." In January, Paz became the first performer to bring regional Mexican music to Paris Men's Fashion Week during KidSuper's runway show ("It was my first time in Europe and we love fashion as well, so I was like a little kid at Toys 'R Us," Paz says). In 2018, he founded the independent record label Street Mob Records, which has signed other rising stars in the genre, including Chino Pacas, Calle 24, Clave Especial, and more. Still, Fuerza Regida keeps both feet planted on the ground. "We just keep on working hard, that's the key," Paz says. "We just act like we still haven't done anything − act like you haven't hit, act like you just started." López, who plays tololoche for the band, echoed a similar sentiment: "(We) stay working 24/7 and stay hungry," he says. "I've been saying that since I started my career, we work harder than a lot of other artists out there, and that's why I think we're more successful," Paz adds. "We don't just do the artist stuff. I also have my record label, and everything we have is because of all the hard work we've put in. So, of course, you gotta' have a little bit of talent, but the rest is all hard work." Paz and López also break down the meaning of the album's name, "111XPANTIA," which serves as a double entendre for manifestation. "111" is usually regarded as an "angel number" or a lucky sign whenever one comes across it, and "ixpantia" is the Nahuatl word for manifestation. "It was time to name an album that," Paz says. "Manifesting has been ever since I can remember. Everything I've wanted, I've almost got and the days go by, you want more things, you want better things for your family and better things for your business." The entire project is dedicated to the manifestation of dreams and constant hard work. It also marks a return to their corrido roots featuring stand-out tracks like "Peliculiando," "Por Esos Ojos," "Marlboro Rojo" and "Godfather." 'We've always fought for our music and our culture' In recent years, Latin musicians including Peso Pluma, Grupo Firme, Grupo Frontera, Junior H, Àngela Aguilar and Becky G have worked to put Mexican music, in all its variations, on the mainstream map. It's no longer just regional, as it's long been categorized in award show categories, but rather international and intentional. "We've just always fought for our music and our culture" to be respected like any other genre, Paz says. "It took a little longer for Mexican music," he adds. "Back in the day, Mexican music was just a little more in this bubble, and I feel like a couple years back, Fuerza Regida and a bunch of other pioneers − I don't want to just include myself − made this genre what it is now." Paz recognizes that many other bands and solo artists went through their own struggles and battles to be recognized, but now "we're accomplishing the goal of making our culture hit now." How Fuerza Regida shows up for the immigrant community during turmoil Although the show must go on, Fuerza Regida's Hollywood Bowl debut comes at a raw time in the city amid ongoing protests rejecting the continued presence of federal immigration enforcement. On June 10, Fuerza Regida shared a statement on Instagram, sending their "love and strength to our Latino community during this difficult time." "We've been deeply moved by the events of this past week," the band wrote. "These are our people, our fans, the very communities that inspire our music. We see your strength and resilience." Days later, they released limited-edition merch and 100% of profits from sales were donated to "support our communities impacted by the recent ICE raids," read the band's Instagram post. More: Jimmy Kimmel slams Trump, calls him 'arsonist with a hose' over ICE sweeps in LA This isn't the first time this year Fuerza Regida has put their money where their community is. Earlier this year, after Los Angeles was dealt another blow with the wildfires that ravaged the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, the band helped provide shelter to 270 people. "Family is No. 1, and I feel like the way you're raised, it reflects a lot on how you're going to be and my parents raised me pretty well and taught me to always care about the community," Paz says. "If we're blessed, we gotta' share a little bit of the blessings."
New York Times
4 hours ago
- New York Times
Lou Christie, ‘Lightnin' Strikes' Pop Crooner, Is Dead at 82
Lou Christie, who with his heartthrob persona and piercing falsetto rode high on the mid-1960s pop charts with hits like 'Lightnin' Strikes' and 'Two Faces Have I,' while transcending teen-idol status by helping to write his own material, died on Wednesday at his home in Pittsburgh. He was 82. His family announced the death on social media, saying only that he died 'after a brief illness.' With his perky doo-wop-inflected melodies and his gymnastic vocal range, Mr. Christie was at times compared to Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons. Like Mr. Valli, Mr. Christie hit his stride as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the other guitar groups of the British Invasion were starting to shatter the handsome-teen-crooner archetype personified by the likes of Fabian and Frankie Avalon. 'They started disappearing,' Mr. Christie once said of such singers in an interview with the site Classic Bands. 'It was so interesting that I kept going. I hit the end of that whole era. 'I've always been between the cracks of rock 'n' roll, I felt. The missing link.' Even in changing times, he held his own, thanks in part to the songs he wrote with his songwriting partner, Twyla Herbert, who was two decades his senior. The songs they created together had more emotional complexity than the standard odes to puppy love. While his debut album, released in 1963, failed to make a splash, two of the singles featured on that album climbed the charts. 'The Gypsy Cried' reached No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. 'Two Faces Have I,' a showcase for Mr. Christie's signature falsetto, climbed to No. 6 a few months later. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Simple Minds on 40 Years of ‘Don't You (Forget About Me)' & Their Friendship, Despite the Occasional ‘Screaming Match'
Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill have been playing music together for some 48 years, most of them in Simple Minds. Kerr assures us that familiarity has bred fondness; he even says the 'parallel story' in the band's 2023 documentary Everything Is Possible is 'the friendship of Charlie and I, which is quite remarkable because usually in long-working relationships in music people hate each other after 20 years. But Charlie and I still go on. There's a great friendship there.' Despite that, Kerr tells Billboard that it's not always a lovefest between frontman and guitarist, either, as Simple Minds is in the midst of its first full-scale North American tour in seven years. 'We're still able to have our rows and our fights. We're not always on the same page,' Kerr acknowledges, adding with a laugh that, 'We had a screaming match last week and everyone around us…. First of all they said, 'I've never heard such a f–kin' intense screaming match,' so afterwards Charlie and I felt embarrassed. Y'know, usually it's not even (about) a thing. You're not on the same page, and it's frustrating. Someone will just say the wrong word, and it triggers. More from Billboard Rachel Zegler Serenades Crowd Outside Theater for Free in a New London Production of 'Evita' Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis to Receive Vanguard Award at The Guitar Center Music Foundation Gala & Benefit Concert Shakira Announces Two More Dates in Mexico, Extending Record to 28 'But here's the good news; at the end of the day there's no scars, no wounds. We get up the next day and everything is fine. How amazing that we're still so passionate about it. How amazing that we still care. How amazing we're in the rehearsal room, trying to make it as great as it can be for our audience, and how amazing the next day we go to breakfast with each other.' During its current trek, whose U.S. leg wraps up Saturday (June 22 in Noblesville, Ind.), Kerr, Churchill and the latest incarnation of Simple Minds have been supporting their new concert album — Live in the City of Diamonds, which came out in April — and the 40th anniversary of an eventful 1985 that included: the Billboard Hot 100-topping single 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' from the hit film The Breakfast Club; a performance at Live Aid that summer; and the band's best-selling studio album, Once Upon a Time, which came out that fall. 'It was beautiful,' Kerr recalls. 'It was so unexpected in a sense. You had the movie, you had the song, Live Aid, MTV, 'Alive & Kicking' [a No. 3 Hot 100 hit], the Once Upon a Time album itself…and lo and behold, 40 years later we're still here talking about it. That's what 1985 felt like to us.' Simple Minds was famously ambivalent about recording 'Don't You (Forget About Me),' which was written by producer Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff for the John Hughes-directed film. The group had already planned to make an aggressive assault on the U.S. market in the wake of its 1984 album Sparkle in the Rain and was confident 'we had songs up our sleeve' for what would become Once Upon a Time. 'Then out of nowhere these phone calls start to come in about this movie, and the record company thinks it would be a good thing to bridge to the next album,' Kerr recalls. 'We were like, 'Yeah, we want to do it,' then 'Oh, hang on a minute. They want us to record someone else's song? That's not what we do; we're credible artists. We write our own songs, and we've got some good ones in the pipeline, so we're not sure about that.' But after meeting the people involved we decided to do it.' The key, Kerr adds, was that his band found a way to make the song its own. 'I'm not taking anything away from the song and Keith and the guys who came up with the music. You can find the demo of the song online; it's a good little song. But Simple Minds, what we brought to it was 10 years of playing live, and we put our heart and soul into it and we put our lifeblood into the record. It would've been a different song if OMD did it, or the Psychedelic Furs — it would've been a different record, rather. So it's not our song, but it is our record.' Simple Minds will follow the North American tour with a jaunt through Europe, starting June 27 at home in Glasgow, where the band plans to play Once Upon a Time in its entirety. That trek wraps up July 27 in Italy, after which Simple Minds plans to return to working on a new studio album — the follow-up to 2022's Direction of the Heart — which Kerr, Burchill and company began working on before hitting the road. 'We've got a whole bunch of songs up our sleeves,' Kerr says. 'They're not finished yet, but the backing tracks are down, the rough mixes. So we're excited. People might say, 'What's the impetus?' because obviously records don't sell like they used to and there's a limited appeal for new stuff no matter whether you're Bruce Springsteen or whoever you are. But this is who we are. This is what we do. It just goes on. It's all about creativity and you have it in you and you've got to get it out. That's the same now as it's ever been, and for us every time you do something new you're still using those muscles. It's like a chapter to a book; it seems to refresh the rest of the story and stops you from calcifying.' Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
