Nicki Minaj calls own hit song ‘stupid’ as she shuts down live performance

Rapper teased a Miami crowd on New Years Eve with the opening bars of ‘Starships’ before declaring it a ‘stupid song’

Nicki Minaj did not hold back in telling a Miami crowd how she truly felt about her hit song “Starships” during a recent New Year’s Eve performance.

The Trinidadian rapper and singer, 41, was performing at the city’s E11EVEN nightclub on Sunday night (31 December) when her 2012 hit began to play.

In a fan-filmed TikTok video of the moment, Minaj begins rapping the opening lyrics before waving her hand to signal an end to the song.

“Hold on, psych, psych,” she interjects as the music is abruptly turned off. The crowd can be heard shouting in disappointment.

“I don’t perform that song no more y’all. I don’t like it, what y’all want me to do? Stupid song,” Minaj adds.

This isn’t the first time the Grammy-nominated “Super Bass” artist has expressed contempt for the song.

In a 2020 interview with Pollstar Live, she said: “I hate ‘Starships,’ I mean ew, ‘Starships?’ I’m like, ‘Why did I do that?’ I really think that every time I hear it.”

Minaj also admitted that she wished she had never recorded her 2014 song “Anaconda”.

The rapper recently celebrated her 41st birthday in December with the release of her newest album Pink Friday 2, a sequel to her 2010 debut album, Pink Friday.

“Pink Friday 2 shows flashes of the inventive brilliance that made Nicki such an undeniable superstar, but like so many legacy sequels, it mostly just makes you wish you were listening to the original,” wrote Nadine Smith in her three-star review of the album for The Independent.

“While some moments of interpolation are more inspired, the musician’s increasing reliance on recognisable samples can start to feel like cruise control.”

Meanwhile, later that month, Minaj rejected Kanye West’s public plea to include her “New Body” verse on his forthcoming album Vultures.

West, now known as “Ye”, tweeted a screenshot of a text message to Minaj reading: “Hi it’s ye, May I call you about clearing ‘new body’ on the new album.”

In a following Instagram Livestream, Minaj addressed the situation, telling fans: “Regarding Kanye: that train has left the station, OK? No disrespect in any way. I just put out a brand new album. Why would I put out a song that has been out for three years? Come on, guys.”

Minaj first recorded “New Body” – a song about plastic surgery – for West’s scrapped album, Yandhi.