5 most-watched Nicki Minaj music videos on YouTube

Nicki Minaj is not only one of the richest but also the most successful female artist in the rap industry so far. While the rapper started her career by releasing mixtapes like Playtime is Over and Beam Me Up Scotty in the early 2000s, she has released five studio albums and is currently preparing for her upcoming world tour.

Today, we'll rank five of Nicki Minaj's most-watched music videos on YouTube.

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Nicki Minaj's 5 most-watched music videos on YouTube, ranked

1) Side to Side - Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj - 2016 (2.2 billion views)

Minaj and Grande performing Side to Side At the 2016 American Music Awards (Image via Getty)

Ariana Grande's Side to Side became a sensation as soon as it was released, and Nicki Minaj's rap verse in the track deserves a large part of the credit. Released in August 2016, the track belonged to Grande's third studio album— Dangerous Woman— and peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The music video of Side to Side opens with Ari surrounded by other women in a spin class, riding stationary bicycles. Minaj's rap verse, on the other hand, takes place in a sauna, where both she and Grande are in bathing suits, surrounded by life-sized Ken dolls.

The rapper ends her rap with a short but impactful sign-out:

"I'm the queen of rap, young Ariana run pop."

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2) Bang Bang - Jessie J ft. Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj - 2014 (2 billion views)

Bang Bang performed at 2014 American Music Awards (Image via Getty)

Minaj's feature in Bang Bang was another immediate success, both commercially and among fans. The track - sung by Jessie J - featured Ariana Grande alongside Minaj, marking their first time working together.

Like Side to Side, Bang Bang also made it in the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number 6 and later peaking at number 3. Talking about the song with Capital FM in July 2014, Jessie J said:

"It was like a real females, come together, empowering, supportive [vibe], and then Nicki jumping on it was like the icing on the cake."

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3) Swalla - Jason Derulo ft. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign - 2017 (1.8 billion views)

Jason Derulo's Swalla was released in February 2017— featuring Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign— originally intended to be the lead single of his new album, 777. However, after the album remained unreleased, Derulo added it to his fifth studio album, Nu King.

While the track might not have made its way into Billboard's Hot 100 chart, it gained a lot of popularity among listeners and critics alike, and was even performed by Minaj and Derulo at the Billboard Music Awards that year.

Talking about the song on the red carpet of the 2017 Grammy Awards, Jason Derulo said about Nicki and Ty:

"I never believe in forcing a collaboration. You know, I’m a fan of both of theirs and I thought that they fit the track perfectly."

On YouTube, Swalla remains Derulo's most-watched music video on the platform even today.

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4) Hey Mama - David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj, Behe Rexha, & Afrojack - 2015 (1.6 billion views)

David Guetta's Hey Mama is yet another one of the songs featuring Minaj that made it in the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Released in March 2015, the track peaked at number 8 on the chart.

Hey Mama marks the third collaboration between Guetta and Minaj, following Where Them Girls At and Turn Me On, released in 2011. The track was a part of Guetta's sixth studio album, Listen, and was described as a "bombastic island-flavored jam" by Billboard.

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5) Tusa - KAROL G & Nicki Minaj - 2019 (1.5 billion views)

Karol G and Nicki Minaj released Tusa together in November 2010. While the song is originally Spanish, Minaj's rap verse in it is in English. The title of the song is a Columbian slang for "heartbreak," and tells the story of a woman who struggles to forget her ex-boyfriend, finding it difficult to get over the heartbreak.

While Tusa was ranked 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it peaked on the US Hot Latin Songs chart in the US, becoming the first song with two female artists to do so. The track was added to Karol G's third studio album, KG0516, two years later.