"Barbie Tingz" is a song recorded by rapper

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

. It is solely written by Minaj and produced by Jeremy Reid, similarly to "

Chun-Li is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' video game series. The first ever female playable character to appear in a fighting game to gain mainstream recognition, she first appeared in ''Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' in 1 ...

". According to Minaj, Reid's name was added to the writing credits for adlibs and production. It was released as a single by

Young Money Entertainment Young Money Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne. Young Money's president is Lil Wayne's lifelong friend and fellow rapper Mack Maine. The label was an imprint of Cash Money Records and is distributed by Republi ...

and

Cash Money Records Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Birdman" Williams. Distributed by Republic, formerly known as Universal Republic, the label has been home to a roster of mostly hip h ...

on April 12, 2018, alongside "Chun-Li". It was included as a bonus track on the

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

and Japanese exclusive versions of Minaj's fourth studio album, ''

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

'' (2018).

Release

On April 10, 2018, Minaj revealed the cover art for the song on social media, alongside "Chun-Li". The song was released on April 12, 2018, through

and

as a single.

Music video

The official

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

directed by Minaj and Giovanni Bianco of Serial Pictures was released on May 4, 2018. It features Minaj in various outfits and choreography. The video has 114 Million views on YouTube as of February 2022.

Critical reception

Bianca Gracie in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' called it a "juicy braggadocious anthem laid atop a throwback production by Chevy Music that is pure New York City" and stated that it's reminiscent of the

Litefeet Litefeet, also referred to as "getting lite," is a type of street dance/vernacular dance that emerged from Harlem, New York in the early 2000s (was established in 2006) . The term comes from dancers dancing as though they have "light feet," or are ...

dance era, "the bars are filled with Minaj's signature themes: boasting about her vagina, calling out jealous women and aiming shots at her rap enemies." Jon Caraminaca on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said, "these are sparring records—loose, pugnacious, a little uncentered. "Barbie Tingz" has the cold snap of early '80s hip-hop and electro ... As is the norm, Ms. Minaj aims shots at unnamed antagonists, but in the past, that bluster felt truly targetless. But now, for the first time since the beginning of her career, there's someone who might plausibly shoot back, and win." Maeve McDermott of

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

said, "Barbie Tingz is the real highlight of the two tracks, a welcome reminder of Nicki's addictive flow over a beat that sounds made for summertime radio play."

Commercial performance

"Barbie Tingz" debuted at number 83 on the U.S. ''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

after a day of tracking and four days of radio airplay, with 21,000 downloads sold and 4.2 million streams. It ascended to number 25 the following week, selling 29,000 copies and earning 18 million streams. It fell to number 78 in its third week. The song managed to peak at number one in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's Heatseekers chart.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

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. * Chevy Music – production * Laura Bates – mixing assistance, record engineering assistance * Ivan Jimenez – record engineering assistance * Aubry "Big Juice" Delaine – mixing, record engineering *

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. After initially pursuing a career in music production, Simon Cowell signed him to his record labe ...

– record engineering

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control Nicki Minaj songs Songs written by Nicki Minaj Cash Money Records singles Young Money Entertainment singles 2018 songs