So far, Nicki Minaj is batting .500 when it comes to her singles. The over-hyped “Massive Attack” faded faster than a narcoleptic, and her tame (by Barbiez standards) “Your Love” landed atop the Billboard Rap Songs chart.

However, Cash Money co-founder Bryan “Birdman/Baby” Williams thinks “Right Through Me,” which leaked online Wednesday, will take the Lil Wayne protégé to “another level.”

“She’s doing it: She’s showing that she’s skillful,” Williams told MTV News about the song, which will arrive October 1. “She’s singing, she’s representing being a lady, and it’s raw. I think it’s a huge record on all formats. It’s just one of them songs to me.”

“Right Through Me,” which Williams described as Minaj’s first official single, features her rapping in a conversational tone over swaying, synth-heavy production.

“You make me laugh, you make hoarse,” she raps. “From yelling at you and getting at you, picking up dishes, throwing them at you/ Why are you speaking, when no one asked you?

“You see right through me,” she sings on the chorus. “How do you do that sh–?”

The song is set to appear on her Pink Friday album, set for release November 23. The project is tentatively slated to feature collaborations with Swizz Beatz, Lil Wayne and the Neptunes.

During the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show, Minaj debuted a collaboration with the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am titled “Check It Out,” which may also appear on the album.

What do you think of “Right Through Me”? Share your reviews in the comments!

People are still talking about Nicki Minaj’s colorful performance at the VMA pre-show with special guest Will.I.Am, and she recognizes what a big milestone it was in her young career.

“That was an amazing look,” Nicki told MTV News right after the main show Sunday night. “I’m so thankful to have that opportunity. As an underground female rapper, that’s the biggest accomplishment so far.”

Nicki also threw kudos to her Young Money family member (and Twitter ex-husband) Drake. “Our divorce isn’t finalized yet,” Nicki joked before assessing Drake’s performance of “Fancy” with Mary J. Blige and Swizz Beatz. “No, he was amazing. He’s always spot-on. I thought Mary sounded like honey. Honey! Amazing. And, of course, my baby Swizz Beatz was up there. I loved it.”

The day after the show, Nicki was back in her hometown of New York performing as part of Jay-Z and Eminem’s Home and Home concert series. Minaj came out with Jiggaman and Kanye West for “Monster.”

“I’ve just been blessed to be on a song with two living legends,” Nicki told DJ Drama recently on his Gangsta Grillz radio program. “In my book, Jay and Kanye are icons, and I never in a billion years would have thought I would be on a song with one of them, let alone both of them. I’m happy people think I murdered the record. It just feels exciting to be a part of that collab. Seriously.”

Minaj’s VMA pre-show performance won over some new fans as well as her peers.

“I think Nicki Minaj is the truth,” Katy Perry said of Minaj. “I think she is amazing, and I love her sense of style. I love her beautiful figure. It’s hot.”

“What I love about Nicki is she has the eye of the tiger and she is fearless,” Minaj choreographer Laurie Ann Gibson said. “These are the components that I saw about three years ago in Lady Gaga. I thought, ‘This is going to be fantastic.’ Her swag is amazing.”

What did you think of Nicki’s VMA pre-show performance? Let us know in the comments!

Source: MTV

A week before this year’s BET Awards, as Trey Songz was working on his new album, Passion, Pleasure & Pain, the singer thought to himself that Nicki Minaj would make for a good guest on the project. A week later, however, as he watched the awards show, he realized he wasn’t the only fan of the Lil Wayne protégé: The Queens lyricist was on the BET stage practically all night.

“She came out so many times and her star power was so big, and she [hasn’t even done] a record of her own,” Songz recalled.

He thought Nicki Minaj would be over doing guest appearances and instead focus on completing her own album, Pink Friday. So, Trey Songz had his work cut out for him if he wanted to secure her for the single “Bottoms Up.”

“We flirt all the time,” he told MTV News. “I know I flirt with her every time I see her. Hey, Nicki. [He laughs.]”

“I actually told her when we were going to do the record, ‘Baby, I want you to come by and listen to the album, I want it to be all the way authentic,’ ” Trey continued. ” ‘ ‘Cause I know you doing a lot of features, I know you supposed to be focusing on your album, and I know it’s probably a lot going on with you right now. So I want you to come by when you get some time and I want to build with you.’ I’ve known Nicki for about two years now, but we never ever had a chance to really build and have a real conversation. So she came to the studio for three hours and listened to my whole album.”

The Virginia singer said that with his “I Invented Sex” and “Say Aah” records still spinning on radio, he wanted “Bottoms Up” to be able to stand out on its own. He called the single “an anthem” and explained that the title is derived from the phrase “bottles up,” but a member of his crew suggested the more broad twist “Bottoms Up.”

Songz described the video as the perfect complement to his and Nicki Minaj’s vocals. “[It’s] different from me or what’s expected from me and anything I’ve shot for that matter,” he said. “Anthony [Mandler] used a lot of different shooting techniques. I think it heightens whatever it is that the song has already — the drive, the vigor, the club anthem, the energy in the record is definitely heightened in the video.”

Source: MTV

Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj presented the Best Male Video award together at the VMAs, and it was evident that the two fun-loving pop stars shared a kinship. Their love of colorful costumes and fun music make it easy for fans to understand why they might get along, and Perry explained just what she loves about the Young Money princess.

“I think Nicki Minaj is the truth,” she told MTV News at her alma mater, Santa Barbara, California’s Dos Pueblos high school, where she performed Tuesday night. “I think she is amazing, and I love her sense of style. I love her beautiful figure. It’s hot.”

But it’s about more than just the aesthetic. She thinks Nicki has that certain “it” factor. “I like her whole attitude. She’s so funny and a chameleon, and you really don’t know exactly what you’re going to get from her, but you know it’s going to be entertaining at every corner,” she said. “She’s really fun. She belongs in this world. I’m very excited for her record. I can’t believe she hasn’t even put out a record yet and she’s still Nicki Minaj! It’s amazing.”

When talking about fellow pop stars like Lady Gaga, Perry pointed out that the “over-the-top” aesthetic only works if the performer also has a “spine.”

“Some people that are just like, ‘Look at me, I have something on my face or head’ — I don’t want to be specific because I don’t even know what I’m trying to say — they’re just not following through,” she said. “I like all that theatrical stuff, but at the end of the day, I like to strip it all off and sit down with my guitar and write a song.”

Like Perry, Nicki hopes that her music can tell a story and resonate with people. “This album is my heart and soul,” the rapper said about Pink Friday, which arrives in November. “This is me explaining every single relationship that I’ve ever been in and explaining it in a way that every woman in this world can understand it.”

Share your thoughts on Nicki Minaj in the comments!

Source: MTV

As it often happens, the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards ended up being more about the series of killer performances than about the actual awards given out (though that shouldn’t take away from the big Moonman-related headline of the night, which was Lady Gaga’s eight wins — including Video of the Year). Nicki Minaj got things started early with electric versions of “Your Love” and “Check It Out” during the pre-show, and then Eminem kicked everything up a notch with his show-opening performances of “Not Afraid” and “Love the Way You Lie” (the latter of which featured a goosebump-inspiring guest spot by Rihanna, who initially said that she wasn’t going to be able to make it to the show).

It only got bigger from there. Justin Bieber inspired teenage swooning with his punchy versions of “U Smile” and “Somebody to Love,” Usher rolled out awe-inspiring takes on “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love” and “OMG,” Florence and the Machine transfixed the crowd with the ethereal “Dog Days Are Over,” Taylor Swift premiered a stunning new song, B.o.B tag-teamed with Bruno Mars and Hayley Williams for “Nothin’ on You” and “Airplanes,” then handed the stage over to Paramore for “The Only Exception,” Drake got “Fancy,” Linkin Park took over the Griffith Observatory for a massive, otherwordly take on “The Catalyst” and Kanye West cemented his remarkable comeback with the Pusha T-assisted “Runaway.” Even the in-house music provided by deadmau5 (with drop-ins by Travie McCoy, Jason Derülo and Robyn) was top-shelf.

But who rose above the rest? Which performance will go down in history as an all-time great VMA barn burner? We leave that up to you. Vote for your favorite 2010 VMA performance in the poll below and leave your arguments in the comments.

Who had the best performance at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards?

Head over to MTV.com now to place your vote for Nicki!