Anaconda (song)

"Anaconda" is a song by Trinidadian-American rapper Nicki Minaj. It is from her third studio album, The Pinkprint (2014). It was released on August 4, 2014 by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Republic Records. It was the second single from the album.[1] The song was produced by Polow da Don, Anonymous, and Da Internz. "Anaconda" heavily samples "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot and "Cocaine (America Has a Problem)" by Kilo Ali.

Upon release "Anaconda" was met with generally good reviews from music critics, who praised the song's production and Minaj's return to her hip hop roots. Commercially, the song was an international success. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100. It became Minaj's highest charting single in the United States to date. It went on to spend eight weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100 chart.[2] The song also fared good in other countries, peaking within the top ten in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Video

A video for the song was directed by Colin Tilley. It was released on August 19, 2014. Following the video release, it broke the 24-hour streaming record on Vevo with 19.6 million views in its first day of release. To further promote the song, Minaj performed it live at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. She also performed it at Fashion Rocks and the iHeartRadio Music Festival. "Anaconda" was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015.[3]

References

  1. Frynlund, Zach (July 24, 2014). "Nicki Minaj Played a Guessing Game on Twitter Before She Announced Her Second Single Today". Complex. Complex Media. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  2. Trust, Gary. "Taylor Swift's Shake It Off Debuts at No.1 on hot 100". billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  3. "57th Annual GRAMMY Awards Nominees". Retrieved December 5, 2014.