From Barbz to Barbie. Nicki Minaj paid tribute to the doll that inspired her own aesthetic, teaming up with Ice Spice for “Barbie World,” the newest cut from the star-studded soundtrack to the Greta Gerwig-directed, Margot Robbie-starring movie about the iconic doll. In “Barbie World,” a song sampling Aqua’s “Barbie World” (check out our exclusive interview with them here), Nicki and Ice Spice belt out a bubbly pop rap with all the pink Barbie vibes. Its irresistible beat is a perfect match for Barbie and her Barbie World, as devastatingly chic as it is adorably summer-ready.
The video features clips of the film, including Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken, playfully flexing his muscles, Barbie (Margot Robbie) and pals dancing in front of her Barbie Dream House, a veritable plastic doll flash mob on the beach, and Barbie and Ken happily flipping over in her pink Barbie Corvette. “And I’m built like a Barbie / I’m a doll but I still wanna party,” they sassily rap. Fans are also treated to ice Spice in a short flipped pink wig, Nicki on a pink jet ski, and sexy male background dancers performing on Barbie’s pink outdoor checkerboard.
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The Barbie soundtrack contains songs by Charli XCX (“Speed Drive”), Dua Lipa (“Dance The Night”), Haim (“Home”), Ryan Gosling (“I’m Just Ken”), The Kid Laroi (“Forever & Again”), Ava Max (“Choose Your Fighter,” an oddly ironic title considering her recent attack), and more. The soundtrack will drop on July 21, the same day the Barbie movie is released in theatres.
Before the release, Nicki Minaj came under fire when a rapper named Problem (b. Jason Martin) accused Nicki of stealing Saweetie’s idea to sample Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” for a rap song for the Barbie soundtrack. Jason alleged that Saweetie’s take on the 1997 hit would have been called “Icy Girl” and that Saweetie sent it over to Nicki for a potential team-up. Now, if Saweetie don’t wanna trip, that’s on her,” he said, per Vibe, “But we crafted a record that was sent over to Nicki to hop on to submit to the Barbie soundtrack.”
“[Nicki] said she was gonna do it. Then all of a sudden, a new version was created. Yes, it’s a sample, you can do what you want. But …. you can’t hear one thing, say you’re gonna do this, then go do your version. It ain’t happening like that — Anybody that’s in this business knows that that’s not how this works,” he said. He would also go on Twitter to share a clip of Saweetie performing “Icy Girl.”
“As a writer on this, I can confirm this song and idea was sent to her last year to submit for the Barbie movie,” Martin tweeted. “It’s sad to see that the original artist has been pushed off a song that was her idea and was meant for both of them. I have no side in this, but I will be compensated.”
“If or when I need to detail the whole way it went down in regards to this Barbie sh-t, you will understand why all writers need to be compensated with day rates and contracts protecting their intellectual properties the day of,” he added. “Hopefully, this gets sorted out quietly. But please, no, I don’t scare easy.”