Nicki Minaj has a new album coming soon, so what better time for her to return to the VMA stage? Nicki took a break from her hosting duties — one year after being honored as a Video Vanguard — to perform her new single, “Last Time I Saw You.” As the song itself is relatively intimate in comparison to Nicki’s last few chart toppers, her performance was suitably stripped-down, opening with Nicki standing at the mic in a billowing gown — which she slowly doffed as she continued her performance.
Then, at the close of the song, she decided to hit the audience with a new song from the upcoming Pink Friday 2. “I like my hundreds blue,” she declared on the hook, while issuing combative lyrics demanding acknowledgment for her trendsetter status. There are definitely going to be some Barbz taking this thing way too seriously by tomorrow morning and I’m already exhausted — but the beat’s nice and it’s Nicki at her battle-rapping best.
Nicki is also one of the artists nominated for awards this evening, including Video Of The Year and Hip-Hop Video Of The Year for “Super Freaky Girl,” R&B Video Of The Year for “Love In The Way” with Yung Bleu, Artist Of The Year, and Song Of The Summer. Watch her performance above and keep up with the VMAs on Uproxx here.