Nicki Minaj’s “Pink Friday 2,” her first album in five years, was released Friday on the rapper’s 41st birthday. In anticipation of her fifth studio album, her fans created an AI-generated city dubbed “Gag City,” a celestial metropolis drenched in Minaj’s signature bubblegum pink.
“Gag City” derives its name from a Nov. 3 X post in which the 12-time Grammy-nominated artist, after hearing the vocals for “Pink Friday 2,” assured her fans, “Y’all r going to GAG CITY.”
Her ardent followers called the Barbz quickly developed the concept into an AI-generated utopia where cotton-candy clouds and ethereal atmosphere evoke visuals from Minaj’s 2010 debut, “Pink Friday.”
Following the album drop, brands and celebrities began booking trips to the virtual destination.
“Uber pick ups now available in #GagCity ✨,” the rideshare company posted to X.
“📍 Gag city,” shared Tyla, the singer whose single “Water” recently went viral on TikTok.
Spotify announced “Gag City” as its newest “sound town” — a reference to a new feature included in the 2023 Spotify Wrapped, which assigned cities corresponding to listeners’ music tastes.
The social media trend has become a fan-led marketing campaign for “Pink Friday 2,” which was originally slated for release in October. After an unexplained delay to Nov. 17, Minaj announced in an Instagram Live video on Oct. 24 that she had postponed the album again to December “for about two reasons.”
The first reason, she said, was that her label was unable to receive vinyl copies in time for the planned Nov. 17 release. The second was to avoid clashing with Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz’s joint album “Welcome 2 Collegrove.”
Lil Wayne is the founder of Young Money, one of Minaj’s record labels and also a group formed in collaboration with other label artists.
“Weezy [Lil Wayne] and 2 Chainz, they announced their date and you know how me and Weezy play. He would never do that if that was my album date,” she said, reassuring fans that Lil Wayne did not mean to eclipse her.
In fact, Lil Wayne prevented a third album delay by replacing Minaj as a performer at this year’s KIIS-FM Jingle Ball, she wrote in a Dec. 3 X post. Her last-minute decision to pull out of the Jingle Ball performance suggested she was working until the last minute to get her record finished.
In the October Instagram Live video, the “Moment 4 Life” artist explained why it had taken her so long to finish the album. She said that during her 2020 pregnancy, she had experienced a bout of writer’s block, not wanting to say “freaky” stuff.
“I have never in my life been so in love with something that I’m working on,” she said.
“Pink Friday 2” features collaborations with Drake, Lil Wayne, J. Cole and Future, with production from Finneas, Murda Beatz, ATL Jacob, Boi-1da, Don Cannon and Dr. Luke, among others. Opening track “Are You Gone Already” also includes a 50-second introduction sampled from Billie Eilish’s “When the Party’s Over.”
The album’s first single, “Super Freaky Girl,” was released on Aug. 12, 2022, and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.