Nicki Minaj released a teaser video for her single "Chun Li" Thursday—but it's not a teaser for official video.
In the two-minute video, Nicki has a freestyle dance battle with dancer Aliya Janell, while both of them are dressed in leather and fishnets, wearing space buns with chopsticks, and cast in a hazy purple light. They take turns rapping, trading off lines of the song, and generally appear to be having a ton of fun. This is because they were.
The teaser, Nicki explained in an Instagram post, was shot at the end of a long day spent working on the actual video and doesn't have anything to do with the official vid.
"Ok, so here’s the story," Nicki wrote. "When you click on the link in my bio, you’ll see me with my new baby @thealiyajanell who I saw dancing to itty bitty piggy one day & fell in love with her. Long story short, I hired her. The REAL #ChunLi video DOES NOT look like what you’ll see when you click the link!!!! But after 2 days of filming, around 5am when my whole team & crew were TIRED AF, I asked her to FREESTYLE with me & this is what happened."
Nicki went on to share some intel about the song's real music video.
"The real #ChunLi video was directed by @stevenkleinstudio and will BLOW ur fkng mind! I love my team so much. @bcompleted on style with @brettalannelson (talking shit in the back), @kimblehaircare on my hair (top notch QUEEN Tingz) and my baby @officialsheikson makeup (top notch QUEEN TINGZ!!!!). Video coming soon. Thx for ur patience. Love you 😘😘😘♥️ bts by @grizzleearts," she wrote, giving shoutouts to everyone involved with the project.
Watch the teaser for yourself below:
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Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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