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Nicki Minaj has just earned her third Diamond plaque from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), this time for her 2012 single, “Starships.”
On Monday (November 18), the popular pop-rap single reached 10 million sales in the United States. Previously, Minaj’s 2010 hit “Super Bass” became her first Diamond record in 2021, followed by her feature on Jessie J’s “Bang Bang” with Ariana Grande, which hit diamond status earlier this year.
Famously feuding with Hot97’s Peter Rosenberg after he dissed the song at Summer Jam back in 2012, Minaj later came out and admitted she also hated “Starships.” Just earlier this year, she vowed to no longer perform the song during her set at a New Year’s Eve party at E11EVEN in Miami.
At one point in the night, her DJ began playing the 2012 song, but after unenthusiastically rapping a few lines, the Pink Friday 2 rapper stopped the song all together.
“Sike, sike, sike,” she said to the disappointed crowd. “I don’t perform that song no more, y’all! I don’t like it! What y’all want me to do?”
And in a 2020 Q&A panel appearance with Pollstar Live, Minaj questioned why she ever made “Starships,” while also saying she wished she never recorded her 2014 hit single, “Anaconda.”
“So much of my discography,” she said when asked which of her songs she regrets. “I wish I never recorded ‘Anaconda.’ I like the video but, ugh. My first ever solo song on Billboard was ‘Your Love.’ To this day I like the video but I hate the song. I could go on and on. I hate ‘Starships,’ I mean ew, ‘Starships’? I’m like, ‘Why did I do that?’ I really think that every time I hear it.”
The now-Diamond “Starships” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was a huge hit for Nicki Minaj, but as mentioned, it became a huge point of contention between her and Peter Rosenberg months after its release.
While addressing the crowd at 2012 Summer Jam, the radio host called the track “one of the most sellout songs in Hip Hop history,” which led to Minaj canceling her scheduled performance at the annual festival that day.
The pair went on to have beef for some time after that, but patched things up a year later when Minaj visited Hot 97 once again.
