Nicki Minaj is dropping her fourth album Queen next month. Ahead of the highly anticipated release, she served as the musical guest on the season finale of Saturday Night Live.
For her performance of “Chun-Li,” Minaj stepped on a set including an Asian temple in the backdrop while wearing chopsticks in her hair and a costume inspired by the song’s Street Fighter character namesake. As she ran through the track, the Queens rapper was flanked by dancers also dressed in Asian clothing. Although Minaj is part Asian, the performance drew mixed reactions on social media.
One Chinese American woman praised it as a nod to the “connections between African American and Asian communities”:
Another woman brought up the cultural appropriation debate surrounding a white teenager who wore a traditional Chinese dress to prom:
That being said, Minaj has a history of honoring her Japanese roots by often mentioning her great grandfather and has dressed in Asian garb dating back to early music videos such as the visual for “Your Love.”
On “Chun-Li,” Minaj channels the video game character while boasting about her dominance in the rap game:
I went and copped the chopsticks, put it in my bun just to pop shit
I’m always in the top shit, box seats, bitch, fuck the gossip
Later on in the episode, Minaj brought Playboi Carti on stage to perform their collaboration “Poke It Out” from his debut studio album Die Lit:
She also appeared in an unaired SNL sketch called “Friendship Song” co-starring guest host Tina Fey as well as cast members Kate McKinnon and Aida Bryant:
Minaj’s appearance marks her third time on SNL as the musical guest. “Chun-Li” peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, while her other recent single “Barbie Tingz” reached No. 25. Both of the songs are expected to appear on Queen, which is scheduled to arrive on June 15.
Watch the performances above and read all the lyrics to Nicki Minaj’s “Chun-Li” and Playboi Carti’s “Poke It Out” featuring Nicki Minaj on Genius now.
