Nicki Minaj had said the release of her latest album, Queen, would be delayed due to a clearance issue involving a Tracy Chapman sample. Ultimately, the album arrived on time, but the final tracklist did not contain any song sampling Chapman. Tonight, however, Minaj shared the track for free via YouTube.
Entitled “Sorry” and featuring Nas, the track is built around a sample of Shelly Thunder’s track of the same name, which is a cover of Chapman’s “Baby Can I Hold You”. In a since-deleted tweet, Minaj said she “had no clue it sampled the legend [Chapman]” and sent a plea over social media asking Chapman to clear the song. It appears Chapman ultimately decided against it, however. On Twitter, Nicki wrote, “Sis said no ????????♀️.”
Listen to “Sorry” below.
