Nicki Minaj live at The O2 review: the queen proves why she's still the best

The first thing to get out of the way about Nicki Minaj’s sold out Pink Friday 2 London gig is that she showed up. A low bar, perhaps, but it was not necessarily a guarantee.

Last week, the 41-year-old Trinidadian rapper’s tour was thrown into chaos when, en route to Manchester’s already disaster-stricken Co-op Live arena for her first UK date, she was arrested in Amsterdam on suspicion of “possessing soft drugs”.

In typical Minaj fashion, she proceeded to livestream the whole debacle on Instagram, arguing with Dutch officials and being dramatically locked in a police van. After letting fans into the arena, the show was eventually called off at 10pm to outrage, but Minaj was released in time to make it to her Birmingham gig the following day.

Where the scandal might have been a PR disaster for another artist, it is simply part and parcel of what fans – the “Barbz” – have come to expect and love from the chaos of the Minaj brand.

As well as being the best-selling female rapper of all time and a 12-time Grammy nominee, throughout her illustrious 20-year career, the self-proclaimed Queen of Rap has also developed a reputation for her firebrand and erratic persona.

On stage, turning up late isn’t uncommon. And offstage she is garrulous on social media, whether it’s an hours-long live streamed tirade against fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion earlier this year, or infamously claiming on X/Twitter that the Covid-19 vaccine caused her cousin’s swollen testicles in 2021.

But there was no sign of this side to Minaj as she took to the stage in London. Emerging to her rousing opening hit I’m The Best in a simple silver breast plate top and floor-length white skirt — with an almost floor-length wig to match — she was the slick image of confident professionalism.

In fact, she was uncharacteristically laconic throughout most of the first half of the show, only addressing the crowd once.

For her first solo tour in eight years, Minaj’s stage production saw the fictionalised Gag City – a fan-created AI-generated futuristic pink metropolis, stemming from the slang term “gag” (meaning to be awestruck by something) – brought to life on stage, a pantheon to the infamously fanatic Barbz who were dressed to match, transforming the O2 into a sea of pink.

Alongside her on stage was the impressive gospel singer, Keisha Renee – perhaps a nod to Minaj’s gospel roots (her parents were both gospel singers) – with a synth player and drummer forming the rest of the band.

Much of the show was dedicated to the tour’s acclaimed titular album, Pink Friday 2, released in December last year. Hits from the record like FTCU, Red Ruby Da Sleaze and the viral TikTok hit Super Freaky Girl – the first solo song by a female rapper to debut at number number one in the US in over two decades – were met with rapture from the crowd.

Minaj did also delight with older classics such as Superbass, Anaconda and Starships – and the crowd matched the surge in energy, particularly during her rousing performance of her iconic verse on Kanye West and Jay-Z’s 2010 hit Monster, still very much a fan favourite.

The capital were also treated to no less than three special guests — British-Jamaican rapper Stylo G, a slightly random but electric interlude from south London rap star Giggs, and the lengthiest and most chaotic of them all from Dancehall legend and Minaj’s “hero” Beenie Man. The latter was a clearly unrehearsed but endearing pairing which left the O2 feeling like a carnival (but did go on a little too long).

At times, the energy in the almost two-and-half hour show did sag slightly – some of the deeper and slower cuts felt a little lacklustre in their delivery, and a whopping eight costume (and wig) changes to accommodate Minaj’s famous alter egos interrupted the flow a little, despite the Gag City visual interludes.

What is clear though, is that, while Minaj’s persona of late has seemed to reek of insecurity in defending her position as the Queen of Rap, the Pink Friday 2 tour has proved she needn’t worry about her crown shifting. No doubt the London Barbz were left sufficiently gagged.