"Va Va Voom" is a song by rapper Nicki Minaj from the deluxe edition of her second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded''. It was released on October 23, 2012 by Young Money, Cash Money, and Universal Republic as the sixth and final

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the album. The song was written by Minaj, Lukasz Gottwald, Allan Grigg, Max Martin, and Henry Walter, and it was produced by Dr. Luke, Kool Kojak, and Cirkut. Being released as the fifth single, it was sent to UK radio stations on September 15, 2012 and later sent to Top 40 mainstream radio on October 23, 2012. It was planned to serve as the lead single, but its release was postponed at the last minute in favor of "

Starships A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 1882 in '' Oahspe: A Ne ...

". It was included on the deluxe edition of '' Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,'' and was later included in the album's

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New aud ...

'' Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – The Re-Up''. "Va Va Voom" is a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

and

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

song with lyrics about sexual activity towards a male. Upon its release, the song received positive reviews from critics, who found it catchy and radio-friendly. Commercially, the song entered the top twenty in countries including Ireland, Slovakia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. An accompanying music video was shot in December 2011, but was initially shelved after Minaj decided not to release "Va Va Voom" as the album's lead single, because she was not happy with the video's end result.

Background

"Va Va Voom" was written by Minaj, Lukasz Gottwald, Allan Grigg, Max Martin and Henry Walter, with production by Dr. Luke, Kool Kojak and Cirkut. It was intended to be the lead single from ''Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded''. It was to be solicited to

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

radio stations on February 7, 2012. It was later postponed a week to February 14, 2012, with a release to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

scheduled for the same date. However, Minaj announced that "

" would instead be released as the lead single. On May 24, 2012, a poll was posted on Minaj's website, asking fans to help select the next singles, the poll is divided into three categories, the third category asks to choose the second worldwide pop single, the choices were: " Pound the Alarm", " Whip It", and "Va Va Voom". "Va Va Voom" had the most votes and won the poll. "Whip It" came in second place and "Pound The Alarm" came in third. However, after several radio stations in the UK, France, and Australia started heavily playing "Pound the Alarm", Minaj announced on June 6, 2012, that "Pound The Alarm" has been chosen instead. "Va Va Voom" was eventually solicited to

in the United States on October 23, 2012.

Composition

Musically, "Va Va Voom" was described as "a sultry, electro-pop thumper" by

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

. Lyrically, the song talks about "seduction finds Minaj playing the temptress atop some delicious dub-lite pulsations." It contains the lyrics "I know that he got a wife at home, but I need just one night alone." The verses of the song are rapped, while the bridge and chorus are sung. "Va Va Voom" is set in common time with a tempo of 127 beats per minute. Written in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

of C minor, it follows the chord progression Cm–E–B–A; Minaj's voice spans from A₃ to B₄.

Reception

According to

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's Kara Klenk, "Va Va Voom" remains a "stand out track" on the album, along with "Beautiful Sinner," "

Come on a Cone "Come on a Cone" is a song by American rapper and singer Nicki Minaj, taken from her sophomore studio album, '' Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'' (2012). Minaj, Garibay and Hit-Boy wrote it and Fernando Garibay & Hit-Boy produced it. Musically, it is a ...

" and "

Beez in the Trap "Beez in the Trap" is a song by rapper Nicki Minaj featuring 2 Chainz for the former's second studio album, '' Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'' (2012). Written by the artists alongside producer Kenoe, the track was released as the album's third singl ...

." Sarah Crafford of '' The Sun Chronicle'' recommended the song to listeners who favored Minaj's Pop tracks, complimenting the song as a "catchy, sing-along and soon-to-be hit!." Comparing the song to that of "Super Bass," Alexander Miller of Quinnipiac University's ''Quad News'' stated that "Va Va Voom" could find itself as the hit bonus single of the album. Bradley Stern from ''MuuMuse'' was very positive saying the song was "insanely infectious" and compared the song to

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

' song "Seal It With a Kiss". He also said "Throw in a very ' You da One'-esque breakdown (again, Dr. Luke), and you’ve got an unbelievably sickening (in the good way!) pop tune." David Jeffries from Allmusic chose "Va Va Voom" as a standout track on the album. He compared the song to "some Black Eyed Peas-styled flash." Sal Cinquemani from ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' described the song as "the most obvious successor to Minaj's crossover hit uper Bass.David Asante of the Urban entertainment website ''That Grape Juice'' gave it a positive review and christened the song "SuperBass 2.0"."

Chart performance

Following the album's release, "Va Va Voom" sold 46,000 downloads, prompting it to debut at number seventy-nine on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, eventually peaking at number twenty-two. It also debuted on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

at number seventy-four. The song also garnered success across American ''

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 ...

'' charts, charting at number fifty on the Hot Digital Songs chart, 45 on the Hot Canadian Digital Songs chart, fifteen on the Rap Digital Songs, and twenty-one on the Pop Digital Songs. As of December 2014, "Va Va Voom" has sold 1.1 million copies in the United States. The song debuted at thirty-six on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, where it eventually peaked. It stayed there for two non-consecutive weeks, and stayed in the charts for seven weeks altogether. The song then charted at twenty-nine on the New Zealand Singles Chart and peaked at number twenty, continuing her top twenty peaking success. It stayed in for only eight weeks. The song peaked at six and one on the

Belgium Singles Chart Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...

(Flanders and Wallonia), respectively and number 34 on the German Singles Chart. In the UK Singles Chart, the song debuted at number 43, before climbing to number 20 a week later where it stayed there for two consecutive weeks. It spent a total of eight weeks in the top 40. The song debuted at number 37 in the Scottish Singles Chart, before climbing to 20 a week later, spending a total of eight weeks in the top 40. In the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, "Va Va Voom" debuted at number 31, before going on to peak at number 13 in its fifth week in the top 40. The song spent nine consecutive weeks in the top 40.

Music video

Background

The music video was filmed on December 21, 2011, in Los Angeles and was directed by Hype Williams. Even though during filming Minaj tweeted: "The look were about to shoot, your gonna Spazz", she later expressed her disliking of the end product, but eventually stated that it will be released as a result of the song becoming a single. The music video premiered on October 26, 2012 on E! News.

Synopsis

The video begins with a rising sunset set in a fairytale like setting set in the wilderness. Two unicorns appear running across water, a reference to the movie '' Legend'', before Minaj appears in a costume with a male companion (rumored to be Robin Hood) behind her, and special effects are displayed throughout the video. Minaj and the boy, dressed in a nobleman's attire continue to be flirtatious towards one another throughout the video, and he tries to woo Minaj, but she continues to play hard to get. The unicorns appear once more before Minaj is shown in another bizarre costume accompanied by a blonde wig. Then Minaj appears to be channeling the fairy tale princesses Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, while cooking, a knight appears before Minaj and kills her with his

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

. She then appears to be lying inside of a glass showcase (possibly a glass "coffin", as follows the story of Snow White). In the end, Nicki pulls a surprising twist by appearing as the evil Queen and seducing the male companion when he arrives to save the "Snow White (Nicki)" from the glass showcase.

Reception

Gina Serpe from E! News gave the video a positive review, stating: "It's safe to say this video has something for everyone. Starting with Nicki herself looking damn good".

Live performances

Minaj performed "Va Va Voom" live for the first time on television on January 25, 2013 on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Radio history

References

{{Nicki Minaj singles 2012 songs 2012 singles Nicki Minaj songs Cash Money Records singles Songs written by Nicki Minaj Songs written by Dr. Luke Songs written by Max Martin Song recordings produced by Cirkut Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke Music videos directed by Hype Williams Songs written by Kool Kojak Song recordings produced by Kool Kojak