A new era of Nicki Minaj is among us, and it has started with a question. Do We Have A Problem? For the last few years, the rapper was faced with stiff competition from her female rapper peers. But as she gears up to release her upcoming fifth studio album, Nicki Minaj has a message for her fans and haters alike.
Since the release of 2018’s Queen, Nicki Minaj has made some significant changes to her life. The Trinidad-born rapper kept her name relevant with notable features on songs with Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, A$ap Ferg, and Bia, to name a few. But perhaps her most incredible release was her first-born son, affectionately known and nicknamed “Papa Bear.” Following her son’s birth with husband Kenneth Petty, Nicki Minaj took to social media to announce a hiatus. The reason for the “Good Form” rapper’s decision was to spend more time with her newborn.
Well, the break is over. The top of 2022 saw Nicki Minaj teasing new music before news of her Lil’ Baby assisted single, “Do We Have A Problem,” which dropped on February 4th. Prior to releasing the song, Nicki Minaj shared in an interview that she planned to veer away from sexually charged lyrics, as they’ve become “overkill.” However, the Barbz were also assured that their favorite rapper would be returning to “mixtape Nicki” on her new album.
The release of “Do We Have A Problem” coincided with a 10-minute visual loosely inspired by the film Salt. The visual, directed by iconic director Benny Boom, featured a star-studded cast of Cory Hardrict and Joseph Sikora. But fans were also delighted to find that Nicki Minaj included her intended next single, “Bussin,” also assisted by Lil’ Baby.
The stats have been released, and Nicki Minaj has a lot to celebrate. Billboard released their chart data for the week following its release, and “Do We Have A Problem” has made a strong debut on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, landing at #2. At the same time, Billboard reports the song has achieved the number-one spot on their Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming, and R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Songs Sales Charts, respectively. In addition, the single has so far amassed the biggest sales of the year thus far, with first-week streaming numbers of 24.4 million and 48,000 sales.
Finding out the news of her latest effort’s success, Nicki Minaj took to Twitter to share the good information. “Do y’all not understand how epic you are? They took off all these sales and look,” she wrote along with a snapshot of the stats. “Changed all the rules a few weeks ago chi… and look.” Minaj promised her fans that she would be logging on to Instagram Live to speak more about the subject while boasting that “so many songs couldn’t do this.” Of course, some came forward in attempts to water down the success that Nicki Minaj has achieved already with her newest release. Nicki took to Twitter to express that she does not “need to GO #1.”
Y’all. Let’s start by saying: I don’t need to GO #1. I AM #1. There’s a difference.
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) February 14, 2022
However, one Twitter user shared that Nicki Minaj was suffering a rapid decline in her sales. In their post, the user submitted a screenshot of both the rapper’s latest singles, seemingly showing “Bussin” at number 146 and “Do We Have A Problem” at 157 on the iTunes charts, respectively. But these positions reflect only the song’s clean version, as the explicit versions have higher charting positions. Regardless, to have your latest single debut so high on the charts at this stage of her career is a highly incredible feat. Congratulations to Nicki Minaj.
