Nicki Minaj recently teamed up with her Young Money mentor Lil Wayne for their newest collab, the "Banned From NO" remix. It was part of a pretty divisive release in Tha Carter VI, but it certainly translated to commercial success. In fact, it even dethroned a previous Billboard record from another Young Money superstar, Drake.
We're talking about the Rap Digital Song Sales chart, on which the "Banned From NO" remix debuted at number one. This broke the Trinidadian MC's tie with the Toronto rapper for the most toppers on this Billboard chart, bringing her total up to 24.
Of course, Drake and Nicki Minaj's history together means that there has been plenty of competition, paralleled success, and points of distance throughout. But their label bond is much stronger than any rap dynamic, something that her reaction to this achievement on Twitter showed.
"drizzy mthfkn drake >>>," the Queen of the Barbz tweeted on Wednesday (June 18). In addition, the "Banned From NO" remix debuted at number five on Billboard's Digital Song Sales chart with just two days of tracking.
Nicki Minaj Tha Carter VI
This followed previous rumors that Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Lil Wayne would reunite on Tha Carter VI, which sadly did not pan out. It's great that Nicki pulled up to the bonus release, and hopefully Drizzy and Weezy have another collab coming in the near future.
Maybe this is too much wishful thinking on fans' behalf, but it shows how strong the Young Money days continue to rank for hip-hop listeners. Speaking of which, Birdman recently reflected on how much Cash Money helped this trio out in their early days.
"Two billion dollars between Drake, Nicki, and Wayne," Stunna claimed to Nick Cannon. "Two plus billion dollars. Hundreds of millions of dollars, guaranteed." This follows previous and similar remarks in 2021 on the Big Facts podcast.
"When Universal gave me a bag, brother, I could honestly say I gave Wayne about $400 to $500 million, Drake got about $500 million, and Nicki got about $300, $400 million out of my pocket," he stated. "No cap. If you don’t believe [me], ask them." Drake and Nicki Minaj's success certainly speaks for itself.
