Nicki Minaj - Starships (Single)

by celebi193  |  February 14, 2012

"Starships" is a song by Trinidadian-American hip hop artist Nicki Minaj from her second studio album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. It premiered during On Air with Ryan Seacrest and was released as the lead single from the album on the same day. It was produced by RedOne, Carl Falk, Jonathan Rapo and Rami Yacoub. The song was released for digital download on February 14, 2012. Upon release, "Starships" received positive reviews from contemporary critics, noting influence from Britney Spears. An accompanying music video for the single was shot in Hawaii on March 13–15, 2012. As of March 28th, 2012, the song is Platinum.

"Starships" debuted at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking her second solo arrival in the Top 10 of the chart, after "Super Bass", which reached number 3 in 2011. The song has thus far peaked at number 5 in the US. In the United Kingdom, the track debuted at number 16, reaching a peak of number 2 on March 18, 2012, marking Minaj's highest charting single as a solo artist in the region. In Australia, the track debuted at number 14, so far reaching a peak of number 2 making it her highest charting single in the region, and second top 10 hit. It also received a platinum certification in Australia exceeding sales of 70,000 in it's fourth week of official release. The single also charted in the top ten for Canada, Ireland, Norway, and New Zealand.

In early March 2012, a fan asked Minaj on Twitter if there will be a video for "Starships". She quickly replied, "Yes. Of course barbz. Don't be silly". According to Nickidaily.com, Minaj's assistant Safaree Samuels streamed on UStream that a video for "Starships" will be released before the album comes out. The "Starships" video was filmed in Hawaii, it was a 3-day shoot, filming began on March 13, 2012 and ended on March 15, 2012. The video was directed by Anthony Mandler. In an interview with Capital FM, Minaj briefly commented on the video for "Starships", calling it "very, very saucy" and her "best one yet". While the video premiered on MTV on 26 April 2012, photos from the video shoot leaked online much sooner. John Mitchell of MTV criticized the video's postponed release, noting that the album's third single, Beez in the Trap released sooner than that of "Starships", the album's first single. The wait was attributed to delays in production.