Nicki Minaj is Barbie when no one asks her to be, imagine when asked. Well, the pink and the Barbie puns did flow freely in this hot collab that sees her join forces – once again! – with Ice Spice, on “Barbie World.” Best believe that “all of the Barbies is bad.”
“And I’m bad like the Barbie (Barbie) / I’m a doll, but I still wanna party (Party) / Pink ‘Vette like I’m ready to bend (Bend) / I’m a ten, so I pull in a Ken / Like Jazzie, Stacie, Nicki (Grrah) / All of the Barbies is pretty (Damn),” Minaj and Ice Spice rap in the chorus. Throughout the song, they drop in several famous phrases associated with the Barbie doll, like, “I’m a Barbie girl (Girl), Pink Barbie Dreamhouse” and “He wanna play in the Playhouse.”
Of course, it’s not “Barbie World” if Aqua’s famous 1997 hit isn’t sampled in the song. So as the song ended, we got to hear Lene Nyström sing the all-too-familiar lines, “I’m a Barbie girl in the Barbie world / Life in plastic, it’s fantastic / You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere / Imagination, life is your creation.”
The single is accompanied by a visually enticing video that sees Minaj and Ice Spice decked out in pink outfits and mostly surrounded by a pink background – don’t act surprised, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie did cause a shortage of pink paint. At one point, we see giant Minaj surrounded by tiny men in black suits and black glasses. It’s probably a nod to a scene in the trailer where Margot Robbie’s Barbie dwarfs over little children, who watch her in awe.
The song was first teased at the end of the Barbie main trailer. It is the fourth song to be released from the celeb-packed soundtrack, following PinkPantheress’s “Angel,” Karol G feat. Aldo Ranks’ “Watati,” and Dua Lipa’s lead single, “Dance the Night.”
Interest in the Minaj and Ice Spice collab surged with the several teases done to promote the song’s release, with the impressions amassed said to be over a billion. The song also landed at number 3 on worldwide iTunes hours after its release, with its video quickly becoming the top trending video on YouTube. It also debuted at number 1 in sixteen countries, including the United States, New Zealand, and Nigeria.
Barbie the Album will continue to release singles featuring top names in the music industry, including The Kid Laroi, Gayle, FIFTY FIFTY, Lizzo, Charli XCX, Ava Max, and so many others, as the movie’s July 21 premiere draws nearer.
