Why did Nicki Minaj reject Kanye West's collaboration plea? History between the rappers explored 

Nicki Minaj and Kanye West have been longtime collaborators. The duo first worked together in 2010, collaborating on Monster - a track from Ye's fifth album which also featured Jay Z, Rick Ross, and Bon Iver.

The same year, Kanye also featured in Blazin' - a song that belonged to Minaj's debut studio album - Pink Friday.

However, things turned sour between the rappers after recording New Body in 2018, for which the rapper also rejected West's collaboration plea four years later. In an Instagram Live session in December 2023, Minaj addressed the matter, saying "The train has already left the station".

The fact that the song was leaked and not released officially later on must've upset the Side to Side rapper, who called it "the biggest hit record that never came out" in a Hot 106 interview in 2022.

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Nicki Minaj had re-written her verse in West's New Body four times

In 2018, Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign got together to record New Body, a track on which Nicki Minaj appeared as a featured guest.

The song focuses on plastic surgery and the stigma attached to it, debunking body shaming, and was supposed to be included in West's ninth album, Yandhi. Scheduled to drop by the end of 2018, Yandhi never saw the light of day.

The following year, Kanye dropped his ninth album, Jesus is King, for which New Body had to be reworked. Before the album's drop, the track was leaked online.

Later, it was also excluded from Jesus is King because of the creative differences between Nicki and Kanye.

On February 2, 2022, Nicki Minaj was invited as a guest on Hot 106 for an interview, where she was asked about when her fans could expect New Body to see the light of day.

To that, the Pink Friday rapper responded by calling the song "the biggest hit record that never came out." Minaj further said:

"Let me tell you something about that…I respect everybody and where they are in life, where they are spiritually.

The rapper continued:

So what I thought was interesting was that Kanye made me write my New Body verse four times over in order to fit into where he was creatively and spiritually in his life, right? Only to then go on the internet a few months later to see him on Drink Champs."

The 41-year-old then pointed out that New Body would’ve seen the light of day if Kanye was not in "his gospel era" at the time.

Nicki then said that perhaps it wasn't meant to be for the track, since the ship had already sailed for it, also agreeing that "stuff like that happens" in their world sometimes.

She ended her monologue by calling New Body "the hit that got away."

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Vultures 1 was released in February 2024 without Nicki Minaj's New Body

Fast forward to 2023, Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign were all set to release their debut album, Vultures 1. The Gold Digger rapper reached out to Nicki Minaj in December, asking for clearance to use New Body in their upcoming album, which she rejected.

West tweeted a screenshot of the message he sent the Swalla rapper, which remained unresponded on December 14. The message in the since-deleted post read:

"Hi it’s ye, May I call you about clearing new body on the new album"

While Minaj might not have responded to West's text, she did address the issue on her Instagram Live session soon afterward, saying:

"Now, regarding Kanye, that train has left the station, okay? No disrespect in anyway. I just put out a brand new album. Why would I put out a song that has been out for three years? Come on guys."

Nicki Minaj's fifth album - Pink Friday 2 - was released on December 8, 2023, and peaked atop the Billboard 200 album chart. Meanwhile, the debut album of West and Ty - referred to as ¥$ - which was originally scheduled to be released on December 15, had to be pushed further.

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It was speculated that Minaj's denial played a role in the album's delay. It was later renamed to Vultures 1 and released on February 10, 2024. Upon release, the album also peaked at Billboard's 200 album chart - the eleventh album of Kanye to have secured the position. One of its tracks - Carnival - also topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.