Trinidadian rapper and pop star Nicki Minaj set the VMA stage on fire with her sizzling performance on Sunday. The 39-year-old hitmaker stole the show while taking the stage to perform a medley of hits before accepting the most prestigious accolade of the night, the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
As for her appearance, Minaj donned a chic Barbie pink look consisting of a sparkly top, mini skirt and lace-up booties. She delivered a sizzling performance with plenty of twerking, grinding with her shirtless male dancers and an epic pole dancing moment.
Per Page Six, Nicki crooned- Roman’s Revenge, Chun‐Li, Moment 4 Life, Beez in the Trap, Anaconda and Super Bass, which got Taylor Swift smiling and singing along in the audience. Of course, the performance wasn’t complete without Minaj’s fiery new hit Super Freaky Girl.
The track from her forthcoming fifth studio album went viral on TikTok over the summer thanks to its catchy lyrics and the dance craze originated by user @lorddroman.
The performance at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, marked Minaj’s return to the VMAs stage for the first time in four years. As fans would recall, in 2018, Nicki performed a Queen-themed medley consisting of hits like Majesty, Barbie Dreams and Ganja Burn.
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Nicki won the Video Vanguard Award at the VMAs. The award is presented to artists for their outstanding contributions and profound impact on the music video and popular culture. According to MTV, Minaj gave a shout-out to her Barbz and the artists who have inspired her over the years, including Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Britney Spears, Rihanna and Drake.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>BARBZ!!!! IT'S THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!<br><br>PRESENTING… YOUR 2022 <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/VMA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#VMA</a> VIDEO VANGUARD HONOREE… <a href=”https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@NICKIMINAJ</a> ✨ <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NICKIVANGUARD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#NICKIVANGUARD</a> <a href=”https://t.co/n9X3ERACnI”>pic.twitter.com/n9X3ERACnI</a></p>— Video Music Awards (@vmas) <a href=”https://twitter.com/vmas/status/1564067622278275073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>August 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Minaj also got emotional while talking about the importance of mental health. “Let me tell you something … I never, ever in my life have written a speech, and today I jotted something on my phone … first of all, to everyone in here, thank you and God bless you. This was in my spirit to say. I wish that Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson were here. I wish people took mental health seriously … even when you think they have the perfect lives,” she said.
Previous Video Vanguard recipients include Jennifer Lopez, West, Spears, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, The Beatles, Janet Jackson and Madonna.
In addition to the accolade and performance, Minaj was chosen to host this year’s awards show alongside Jack Harlow and LL Cool J.
She also received nominations in two categories: Best Hip-Hop for Do We Have a Problem? featuring Lil Baby and Song of the Summer for Super Freaky Girl.
