After a tumultuous rollout for her latest album, Queen, Nicki Minaj appeared on the 16th season premiere of Ellen for a sit-down with the host that preceded a fiery medley of cuts from the record. Minaj also surprised three students by gifting them $50,000 each to help pay off their student loans.
Neon orange hair glowing and a cadre of backup dancers behind her, Minaj capped off the show with a medley that included “Barbie Dreams”, “Ganja Burn”, and her smash 6ix9ine collaboration “FEFE”, which was added to Queen at the twilight hour. Watch it below.
Elsewhere, Minaj doubled down on her criticism of Travis Scott’s Astroworld rollout, claiming that, due to the rapper bundling the album with ticket sales and merchandise, his album shouldn’t have surpassed hers at the top of the Billboard chart. With a laugh, she asserted that she still “wanted to punch him in his fucking face.” She also added that she “don’t like being bullied,” which is a little rich when you consider her role in the online onslaught met by writer Wanna Thompson.
Watch those segments of her interview below.
Last month, Minaj postponed the North American leg of her “NICKIHNDRXX Tour” with Future.