Nicki Minaj is back with her first single of 2023, “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” which she released on Friday (March 3) via Young Money Entertainment and Republic Records.
The Queen of Rap has been teasing her latest release on Instagram with a video snippet filmed in her home island of Trinidad and Tobago as well as photos of her wearing a vintage Jean Paul Gaultier dress with dyed hair in half-pink, half-red space buns.
“Red Ruby Da Sleeze, Chinese on my sleeve/ These wannabe Chun-Li’s, anyway, nǐ hǎo/ Who the f— told bi—es they was me now?” she raps over Lumidee‘s 2003 smash “Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)” while also referencing her 2018 Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit and alter-ego “Chun-Li.”
“Red Ruby Da Sleeze” marks her first solo single since 2022’s “Super Freaky Girl,” which became the rapper’s career-first solo Hot 100 No. 1 hit and the first No. 1 debut for a hip-hop song by a female artist with no accompanying acts since Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” in 1998.
Minaj was recently ranked No. 7 on Billboard and Vibe‘s 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time list and the No. 10 on Billboard‘s Greatest Pop Stars of 2022 list. She also emerged as the winner of Billboard‘s inaugural Power Artist 2022 – Fan Choice bracket, where fans voted from the 32 artists who made the biggest impact on Billboard‘s 2022 year-end charts.
Listen to “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” below.
https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/nicki-minaj-red-ruby-da-sleeze-single-listen-1235278552/
