Hip Hop Fans Bow Down—Nicki Minaj Remains the Highest-Selling Female Rapper

The numbers are in on Nicki Minaj's fifth studio album, Pink Friday 2, which means the female rap legend is collecting a new set of accolades. The "Anaconda" rapper released her latest project on December 8, 2023—a full five years after her last album, Queen. Billboard announced Monday that Pink Friday 2 officially debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, marking Minaj's third no. 1 album. This means the songstress now has bragging rights for two new record-breaking moments: the most No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 by any female rapper ever and the biggest female rap album of the decade so far. Also, in case anyone was doubting her years-long chart domination (or the power of the Barbz), she's also the first female rapper to score a No. 1 album in two different decades.

All in all, Minaj's sequel to her 2010 debut album, Pink Friday, landed in the top-10 overall album debuts of the year, and has also received favorable praise from critics, including a score of 71 out of 100 from Metacritic—though its length (a full 22 tracks) is a point of contention. The album's release caps of a big year for Minaj, who contributed to the blockbuster Barbie soundtrack, collaborating with Ice Spice on the track "Barbie World." She also hosted the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, where she unveiled one of the lead single from the new album, her ballad "Last Time I Saw You."

Next up, Minaj will begin her Pink Friday 2 World Tour in March 2024, with dates in the U.S., U.K., and Europe. She also teased that her long-delayed tell-all documentary could arrive soon. During a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live, she told Andy Cohen, "I’ll of course add some new stuff going on in it to reflect the aftermath of Pink Friday 2 and stuff like that, but it’s done," adding that she hopes the documentary is released before the start of the tour.