5 most-streamed Nicki Minaj songs on Spotify

Nicki Minaj is a self-proclaimed "queen of rap" for a valid reason. An eight-time winner of the BET Award for the best female hip-hop artist, Minaj is credited with several Billboard-topping hits and has released four studio albums so far.

The 41-year-old rapper is also the queen of online streams. According to ChartMasters, Nicki has amassed over 41 billion views on YouTube and 32 billion streams on Spotify throughout her career.

With over 46 million active monthly listeners on the streaming platform, the Truffle Butter rapper has garnered quite an impressive crowd on Spotify.

Here we have five of the most-streamed Nicki Minaj songs on Spotify.

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5 most-streamed Nicki Minaj songs on Spotify, ranked

1) Tusa - KAROL G & Nicki Minaj - 2019 (1,526,773,087 streams)

Karol G released Tusa in November 2019. The major part of the song, sung in Spanish, highlights the struggles of a woman who had her heart broken in a relationship and finds the task of getting over her ex-boyfriend challenging. The Spanish singer named the track after a Columbian slang for "heartbreak."

While Nicki Minaj's rap in the track is mostly in English, the rapper opens the song with four lines in Spanish.

Talking about how the collaboration came to be in a Billboard interview in November 2019, Karol G revealed that she had sent Minaj the track on Instagram. The singer added:

"She called me and said: ‘I’m going to make the best rap of my life for your song.' I felt so happy. I sent her the music at 1 p.m. At 1:07 p.m., she downloaded the file, and at 8 p.m., I had the song back."

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2) Side to Side - Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj - 2016 (1,463,516,913 streams)

Minaj & Grande At the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards (Image via Getty)

Ariana Grande's Side to Side, featuring Nicki Minaj, was released in August 2016, as part of Grande's third studio album - Dangerous Woman.

The track acquired the fourth position on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart soon after its release, and is also the 7 Rings singer's most-watched music video on YouTube, surpassing 2.2 billion views.

Minaj's rap verse in the music video is recorded in a sauna, where Ariana and Nicki are seen surrounded by "life-sized Ken dolls."

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3) Bang Bang - Jessie J ft. Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj - 2014 (1,373,831,036 streams)

Minaj, Grande, and Jessie J At the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards (Image via Getty)

Starring Nicki, Jessie J, and Ariana Grande - the three icons in the music industry at the time - Bang Bang created a sensation soon after its release.

The track, which was included in Jessie's third studio album, Sweet Talker, as well as Ariana's sophomore album, My Everything, peaked on Billboard's Hot 100 chart at number three.

Talking about the song's creation with Capital FM, Jessie J revealed that her producer informed her that Ariana wanted to do a verse in it, adding:

"And then Nicki heard it and was like, 'Let me jump on it!'. It was like a real females, come together, empowering, supportive [vibe]."

Bang Bang also marked the first of Minaj-Grande's collaborations, making way for songs like Side to Side, Bed, Get On Your Knees, The Light is Coming, and Bad to You.

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4) Starships - Nicki Minaj - 2012 (1,185,829,149 streams)

Nicki Minaj's Starships was released on Valentine's Day, 2012, as the lead single from her sophomore studio album - Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. The track peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, staying in the top 10 for 21 weeks.

While the Super Freaky Girl rapper might have gained substantial sales from the track, in a 2020 Q&A panel of Pollstar Live, she admitted that she wasn't happy about making it. Talking about the songs she regretted making, Minaj said:

"I hate ‘Starships,’ I mean ew, ‘Starships?’ I’m like, ‘Why did I do that?’ I really think that every time I hear it."

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5) Swalla - Jason Derulo ft. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla Sign - 2017 (1,133,327,362 streams)

When Jason Derulo initially released Swalla, the singer wanted it to be the lead single in his upcoming album 777. Since the album remained unreleased, Derulo ended up adding the track to his fifth studio album - Nu King - instead.

Speaking about the song to Billboard in 2017, Derulo mentioned:

"It’s one of those ones that’ll get you up and doing your thing. I feel like it’s gonna stick out on the radio. There’s nothing that sounds like it."

The chorus of Swalla is created as an interpolation of the 1995 track Shimmy Shimmy Ya by Russell Tyrone James.

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Nicki Minaj's most recent project - a deluxe album titled Pink Friday 2: Gag City Reloaded - is expected to be released on September 13, 2024.