Oh. My. Gosh.
Nicki Minaj made her long-awaited debut on “Carpool Karaoke” last night and it was worth the wait. Riding shotgun with James Corden, the Queen cruised through Los Angeles while rapping along to her biggest hits, from “Starships” to “Do We Have a Problem?”
The drive kicked off with a performance of Nicki’s “inspirational” 2014 hit “Anaconda” before she wowed with an Adele impression.
“I just loved it, she made me so, so happy,” Nicki said while recalling Adele’s famed “Monster” rap from “Carpool Karaoke” in 2016. “She embodied Nicki Minaj.”
During the 17-minute ride, Barbie performed the iconic “Monster” verse herself mashed up with Adele’s rendition before flexing her vocals on a cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You.”
Next up, she busted out her latest hit, “Blick Blick,” and hilariously explained the “opps” lyrics to James. That was followed by “Super Bass” and a freestyle with beatboxing from James. “You did good though. On the white scale, it wasn’t that white,” she told “The Late Late Show” host.
After performing “Do We Have a Problem?,” Nicki took it all the way back to the start of her musical career. Corden pulled out a clarinet and asked Nicki to play a few notes before leading into “Chun-Li.”
Things got serious for a moment as a vulnerable Nicki opened up about her anxiety and how she copes with it. “When you’re a woman and you’re in the public eye all the time, if you’re not careful, you can become less confident because you’re being constantly scrutinized,” she explained.
She also revealed that she deletes social media from her phone, which gives her “an enormous sense of peace.” “And then you realize what really matters,” said Papa Bear’s mother, who makes up melodies and sings them for her son.
“When I look at my son, I’m just magically in love. He just makes me laugh, makes me smile, makes me happy. He’s just co cute and cuddly,” she gushed.
Before pulling into the CBS parking lot, they performed the Pink Friday smash “Starships,” which turned into an all-out dance party in the car. “White boy wasted!” Nicki yelled out as James fist pumped along to the song.