Nicki Minaj Pushes ‘Pink Friday 2’ Release Date: ‘A Very Special Day to Me and to the Barbz’

The hip-hop star's fifth studio album 'Pink Friday 2' will now be released on her birthday, Dec. 8

Nicki Minaj is about to have a very special birthday.

The Queen of Rap, 40, announced in an Instagram Live on Tuesday that the release date for her upcoming fifth studio album Pink Friday 2 has been shifted from Nov. 17 to her birthday on Dec. 8. The rapper opened up about why she made the decision to push the release a second time and expressed just how “proud” of the project she is.

After kicking off the livestream by sharing that she had several “major, monumental announcements,” Minaj — who was wearing “Barbie” bling with pink lipstick and eyeshadow to match — revealed, “for about two reasons, I have changed my album date.”

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“The new album date for this incredible body of work that I am so proud of is on a very special day to me and to the Barbz,” the “Barbie World” rapper said. “Pink Friday 2, I am so happy to announce, will be out on my birthday, December 8th.”

“I am so filled with emotion about it because, as y’all know, it’s been a long time coming,” the hip-hop star added.

The superstar explained that the date changed largely because the vinyl pressing of the album wasn’t going to be ready until the week of Dec. 1. She also clarified that the release had “been changed for some time now behind the scenes” and wasn’t pushed because 2 Chainz and her longtime friend and collaborator Lil Wayne are releasing their new joint record, Welcome 2 Collegrove, on Nov. 17.

The Grammy nominee also spoke about why it’s taken her five years to drop the follow-up to 2018’s Queen. “I have never in my life been so in love with something that I’m working on,” the “Super Freaky Girl” rapper said. “Pink Friday 2 the album is something that has been coming for the last five years. It is the album that I had writer’s block for a long time because I was pregnant and didn’t want to say freaky stuff and all that.”

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She continued, “This entire album will be the biggest gift I have ever given humanity thus far. I can stand by that. I will bet any amount of money that Pink Friday 2 the album is going to make people fall in love immediately.”

On the livestream, the “Ruby Red Da Sleeze” artist also announced that she’s launching a new perfume to coincide with Pink Friday 2, which will be sold exclusively at Amazon starting Dec. 13 and JC Penny starting Dec. 26.

Minaj thrilled the Barbz back in June when she announced her upcoming album would be a sequel to her seminal 2010 record Pink Friday. At the time she revealed with a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that the record, originally slated for Oct. 20, would be pushed to Nov. 17.

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After teasing that her fifth studio album would be “well worth the wait,” she wrote, “I love you guys so much. I am so grateful for the years of support & love you guys have given me. At times maybe I didn’t even deserve all that you have poured into me. Nonetheless, you. will. love. this. Album.”

Since then, she’s given fans a tease of the highly-anticipated project by sharing the fantastical album artwork, dropping the single “Last Time I Saw You” and previewing an unreleased track at the MTV VMAs, which she emceed for the second year in a row.

Earlier this year, the hip-hop icon also contributed the hit song “Barbie World” to the Barbie movie soundtrack.

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