Nicki Minaj Gets Nostalgic on New Song “Red Ruby Da Sleeze”

Nicki Minaj has shared her first song of 2023: “Red Ruby Da Sleeze.”

The song interpolates Lumidee’s 2003 song “Never Leave You (Uh Oooh)” to great appeal. Produced by Go Grizzly and Cheeze Beats, Minaj is back in full force, switching up tempos and dropping punch-line after punch-line with ease.

Seven-hundred on ’em horses when we fixin’ to leave (Uh-oh) / But I don’t fuck with horses since Christopher Reeves…Dorito bitches/mad that they nacho…Cuz bitches couldn’t walk in my Crocs, that’s word to Dundee/Just a bunch of airheads like Kelly Bundy, is just a selection of the references Minaj packs into this 3-minute track.

Check out the song below.

“Red Ruby Da Sleeze” follows Minaj’s massive No. 1 hit “Super Freaky Girl” last year. That track also made use of another’s song’s melody: Rick James’ “Super Freak.” The song was considered a follow-up to Minaj’s 2014 hit “Anaconda.”

Though “Super Freaky Girl” was the only solo song the rapper put out last year, she hopped on a number of songs from other artists, including the World Cup song “Tukoh Taka,” Youngboy Never Broke Again’s “I Admit,” Coi Leray’s “Blick Blick” and Lil Baby’s “Do We Have a Problem?” and “Bussin.’”

“Super Freaky Girl” made history in August 2022 when it became the first song by a solo female hip-hop artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart since Lauryn Hill in 1998.

“I knew the song would make people happy,” Minaj said. “Everything that feels nostalgic is making people feel better right now [because] we’ve had a couple of tough years. Once I started writing it, it became easy and fun. It’s been a while since I put out a fun song.”

“Red Ruby Da Sleeze” will likely be the first taste from Minaj’s impending fifth album, which the rapper says “will be out soon.” Minaj’s last album was released in 2018 and delivered the Top 10 hit “Chun-Li” and singles “Bed,” “Barbie Dreams” and “Good Form.”

Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images