It’s a new era for Nicki Minaj. The Barbz leader announced over the weekend that instead of releasing the Pink Friday 2 deluxe, she’s decided to turn those songs into a completely new project with the third installment of the Pink Friday series.
Minaj was supposed to drop her PF2: Gag City Reloaded deluxe last Friday (Sept. 13), but the release date came and went without the set. Nicki clarified the album’s situation on Sunday (Sept. 15), when she revealed that Pink Friday 3 is on the way, and fans can expect another announcement regarding the project’s arrival in the coming weeks.
“Instead of doing a DELUXE to Pink Friday 2, I’ve decided to do a brand new album. I’ll still incorporate new songs like #Mamita & [The ‘anxiety’ song] for the remainder of the tour tho…and I’ll announce the new date within the next couple weeks,” she tweeted. “The new music is just too good to be thrown away on a deluxe album. Last night, the songs I recorded were just way too iconic. I love you guys so much. You know that. I know you do. I’ll still give you something leading up to the announcement, so no worries.”
Nicki continued: “PF3 is about to do PRECISELY wtf BEEN needed to be done. TRUST ME BARBZ. IM SO EXCITED. BLESSED. LOVED (by the Barbz) & fortunately (for the Barbz & me), I’ve learned A LOT since 12/08/23. PF2 means so much to me. As my 1st album as #PapaBear mama, it’s just very special to me for so many reasons you guys aren’t aware of. I put every song on there in a specific order, etc. So to honor that, I’m going to give it the respect & integrity it deserves as a beautiful body of work & not add anything else to it.”
The Queens rapper explained that “1 or 2 songs is no big deal but 5-7 songs feels a little sloppy right now (In my humble opinion).” She added: “This era has just been so successful, rewarding, satisfying, etc. after much thought, I want to be for CERTAIN that I am being intentional about every single decision being made around both PF2 AND PF3.”
Nicki Minaj is currently on the road for the second leg of her North American Pink Friday 2 World Tour. She’ll be in Dallas on Tuesday (Sept. 17), and then makes stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Miami and Raleigh, and wraps up in Queens on Oct. 11.
Pink Friday 2 arrived on Dec. 8, 2023, and debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 228,000 album-equivalent units, according to Luminate. That sum is the largest week for a rap album by a woman in the 2020s decade, and the biggest for an R&B/hip-hop album by a woman in 2023.
