For Nicki Minaj, a Britney Spears tour was a chance to prove 'I can be part of any world'

Nicki Minaj was conquering the mainstream with the “boom ba-doom boom, boom ba-doom boom bass” of “Super Bass,” the highest-charting entry on the Billboard Hot 100 by a solo female rapper since Missy Elliott taught us what it means to "Work It," when she took the stage in Glendale, Arizona, as the main support act on Britney Spears' huge arena tour.

It was the rising rap sensation’s second swing through metro Phoenix as an opener that year, having shared a bill with Lil Wayne on April 19, 2011, when Weezy’s I Am Music II Tour rolled through Footprint Center, which was called US Airways Center at the time.

Nicki Minaj concert in Phoenix: What you need to know before you go to Footprint Center

Britney Spears on Nicki Minaj: 'A great artist in every way'

The Femme Fatale Tour launched on June 16, 2011, in Sacramento, California, hitting Glendale six days later for a concert at Desert Diamond Arena, which was Jobing.com Arena then.

In a midtour interview with MTV, Spears sang Minaj’s praises.

"I think she's great," Spears said.

"She's a great artist in every way and I'm really happy for her. I think she has a distinct sound when she raps. It really stands out and sets her apart from everyone else. I'm happy she's able to be on tour with me because that's just amazing."

Nicki Minaj was 'really excited to make history with Britney'

In an interview with MTV before the tour began, the Trinidadian rapper shared her feelings on touring with Spears.

“She's definitely iconic and I'm very excited," Minaj said. "It's weird. I just always remember her, since I was little, ruling the world, so I'm really excited to just expand my fanbase and show people that I can be a part of any world."

She also called into the Ryan Seacrest show to talk about how thrilled she was to have been asked to join the tour with a shout-out to her fans, the Barbs.

"I'm calling to let everyone know how thrilled I am, how honored I am to be going on the road with the iconic Miss Britney Spears this summer,” she said.

“I just know that when the Femme Fatales and the Barbs get together, we're going to kick major ass. And I am looking forward to creating a new, a bigger, a brighter, a more spectacular show. And I am just really, really excited to make history with Britney.”

In an interview with MTV before the tour launch, Minaj talked about “trying to put more theater on that stage,” adding, “So much to me is music, but it's also about putting on a show, so that's my goal: to truly put on a show and incorporate theater and dance.”

Critics praised Nicki Minaj's 'undeniably magnetic stage presence'

An Entertainment Weekly critic wrote that “Nicki herself brought as much fun and energy as she could to her budget-limited performance” in Los Angeles, the stop before the tour arrived in Glendale, “developing a Femme Fatale theme of her own as her alter-ego Roman battled a villainous dancer wearing the Saw clown mask.”

That writer also praised her “undeniably magnetic stage presence."

The Los Angeles Times responded to that same performance even more enthusiastically.

“Her music ranges from hardcore to pop friendly, so it’s not surprising that her second trek in a year shows her supporting pop royalty Britney Spears on her Femme Fatale tour,” Gerrick D. Kennedy wrote. After noting that Spears was the star of the show, he went on to write, “there was a moment at Staples when Minaj ruled the stage with razor-sharp bangs and body-hugging attire on full display.”

Kennedy went on to praise Minaj for having stepped it up a notch or two since coming through LA with LA Wayne a few months earlier.

“While she played the true team player role while on the road with Wayne (he likes to bring out his Young Money family during his set), with Spears, she proved to be a serious live player with elaborate staging, a theatrical story line, choreography and costume changes,” Kennedy wrote.

When Nicki Minaj came to Arizona on Britney Spear's Femme Fatale Tour

Two days later Minaj played Glendale, where my review in The Arizona Republic noted the “elaborate theatrical production” involved in her performance, which included “a talking computer, a parallel world and an epic battle being waged before our very eyes between good, as played by Nicki, and evil, which, of course, was out to ‘overshadow joy, peace and love.’”

“And if that sounds a little silly, well, it was, especially the final battle, where the rapper struck her favorite kung fu poses with a ray gun in each hand before vanquishing evil, naturally.”

For the most part, Minaj pulled it off, I wrote, “in part because she's one of rap's most charismatic entertainers, with a million dollar smile, a killer haircut and a level of enthusiasm that could not be more contagious while treating the fans to a hit-filled set that started with ‘Roman's Revenge’ and made its way through ‘Did It On'em,’ ‘Up All Night,’ ‘Bottoms Up’ and ‘BedRock.’”

Minaj joined Spears on stage at several stops on the Femme Fatale Tour to dust off her feature on “Till the World Ends,” but Glendale got Minaj on video, rapping her verse from the Femme Fatale Remix.

As The Republic noted, “‘Big Fat Bass’ began with giant speaker cabinets being wheeled out by her dancers, Britney crawling out of one to bump and grind in another skimpy outfit while will.i.am handled his part via video (the same trick used later for Nicki Minaj's rap on ‘Till the World Ends’ despite her being IN THE VENUE, having gone on just before the headliner).”

According to Pollstar, the Femme Fatale Tour was the 11th highest-grossing tour worldwide of 2011, earning $68.7 million.

Nicki Minaj brings her Pink Friday Tour to Phoenix in 2012

By the time Minaj made her next appearance in the Valley, she was headlining her own Pink Friday Tour, which played Comerica Theatre (now Arizona Financial Theatre) in Phoenix on Aug. 7, 2012.

Released in November 2010, “Pink Friday” was Minaj’s debut studio release. It hit the charts at No. 2, making its way to the top on the way to going triple-platinum.

Two songs from "Pink Friday" – “Your Love” and “Moment 4 Life” (which featured Drake) – hit No. 1 on Billboard’s rap charts.

Six songs went Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Your Love,” “Check It Out” (with will.i.am), “Right Thru Me,” “Moment 4 Life,” “Super Bass” and “Fly” (with Rihanna).

The album’s biggest hit, by far, was “Super Bass,” which peaked at No. 3 and was certified Diamond for sales of 10 million units, winning an MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video.

The success of “Pink Friday” inspired two sequels – 2012’s double-platinum “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded” and 2023’s “Pink Friday 2,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100.

What Nicki Minaj learned from Lil Wayne and Britney Spears

In 2011, before she launched her Pink Friday Tour, Minaj spoke to the Los Angeles Times and reflected on what opening for Lil Wayne and Britney Spears had taught her about how to entertain a crowd.

“Britney’s production is so amazing,” she said. “When I sat out there the first night to watch it, I felt like I was a kid at an amusement park. It was so much, the lights, the content and the props.

"Whereas Wayne, he teaches me how to command a crowd. His comfort level and how he makes people feel like he’s their best friend when he’s onstage. He has that command. If you can put both of those two things into a show, you can really do an amazing show – that’s my goal.

"Am I gonna be able to do these humongous venues within the next year? Probably not. But am I gonna put on an amazing show and give everyone something that’s gonna be well worth what they paid? Absolutely yes.”

Minaj brings her Pink Friday 2 World Tour to Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday, March 13. It's her fourth and most extensive headlining tour, playing 56 dates.

In an Instagram livestream, she promised, “This will be a very different feeling tour, even if you've been to every Nicki Minaj tour that's ever existed.”

Nicki Minaj setlist: What she played on the 2011 Femme Fatale Tour

Here's every song Nicki Minaj played at Jobing.com Arena when the Femme Fatale Tour brought Minaj and Britney Spears to Glendale, Arizona:

• "Roman's Revenge"

• "Did It On'em"

• "Up All Night"

• "Bottoms Up"

• "My Chick Bad"

• "Your Love" recording

• "Monster"

• "Save Me"

• "Anywhere Is" (Enya cover)

• "BedRock"

• "Check It Out"

• "Letting Go (Dutty Love)"

• "Where Them Girls At"

• "Book of Days" (Enya recording)

• "Moment 4 Life"

• "Super Bass"

Nicki Minaj

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 13.

Where: Footprint Center, 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix.

Admission: $74.50 and up.

Details: 602-379-7800, ticketmaster.com.

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on X @EdMasley.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Nicki Minaj reached pop fans on Britney Spears Femme Fatale Tour