Anaconda

Album: The Pink Print (2014)
Charted: 3 2
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Songfacts®:

  • The second single from Nicki Minaj's The Pink Print album, "Anaconda" drew lots of attention for its bootylicious cover art revealing a great deal of the Queen Barbz's rear. It was released to iTunes on August 4, 2014.
  • The song is built around a sample of Sir Mix-a-Lot's "My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hon" line from the rapper's 1992 ode to women with large posteriors, "Baby Got Back." An anaconda is a snake - a big one.

    Several other lines from Sir Mix's tune are used throughout, along with its horns. Minaj adds a heavy dose of raunchy sexual innuendo to the mix.
  • This song was produced by Eric Bellinger, Polow da Don (Usher's "Love in This Club," Fergie's "London Bridge") and Da Internz (Big Sean's "Dance (A$$)").

    Eric Bellinger is the grandson of singer- songwriter Bobby Day ("Rockin' Robin"). After experiencing success recording and touring with the R&B group ANKU, he started developing his song writing talent, penning tunes for the likes of Jennifer Hudson & Ne-Yo ("Think Like A Man") and Chris Brown ("Fine China").

    Bellinger told MTV News that he was brought into the studio to help complete the song, which the other two producers had already started. "Most people don't look to me as a producer; they look to me as a songwriter," he said. "I think Da Internz, they trusted my veteran ear. Polow da Don had the idea; [then] brought it to Da Internz; Da Internz called me in, and then we kinda just [were] vibing it out with suggestions and opinions and placements and arranging it. I kinda played a Quincy Jones in the situation, almost. Every step of the way, me and Kosine [of Da Internz] were piggybacking off ideas."
  • The plan was for this to end up as a single for Minaj, so the producers took their time over it. "She knew that she wanted it to be her single, so it was a super big advantage for us when we were in there working," Bellinger said. "We were like, 'Well, we're not leaving until it gets right,' I didn't get home until the next day, until it was daylight. And I think everybody that was involved was super open to, 'Whatever we have to do for the sake of the song; whatever's the best look for the song, let's do that.' And everybody put egos aside."
  • Sir Mix-a-Lot told MTV News that he was in contact with Minaj throughout the recording process. "She called [while she was] in the studio," he said. "I don't really know Nicki Minaj, but I can tell you this: Lazy, she is not. That girl works hard. I was blown away by her work ethic. She would hit us up, she'd be in the studio vibing, coming up with different ideas, making sure those ideas were cool. She'd call you back after a couple more hours."
  • The song was originally recorded by Missy Elliott in 2012, but the rapper decided to shelf the track so it was re-recorded by Minaj two years later.
  • The Colin Tilley-directed music video was shot in Los Angeles. The racy, butt-heavy clip features plenty of booty-shakin' and grindin' from Minaj and a group of curvaceous women.

    Drake features near the end of the video as a voyeur watching the Queens MC deliver a steamy lap-dance. His cameo came about as a result of Minaj bumping into him the night before in the studio.

    Sir Mix-a-Lot tweeted that he'd watched the clip 37 times had "only have one word to sum up my feelings. DAMNNNNN!!!!!!"
  • The video broke a record by garnering over 19.6 million views on VEVO. Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop"' previously held the record with 19.3 million view in its first 24 hours.

    Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" video surpassed the VEVO one-day views record in May 2015 when it racked up 20.1 million views in its first 24 hours.
  • Minaj told GQ the clip was inspired by typical things girls like to get up to. "I think the video is about what girls do," she said. "Girls love being with other girls, and when you go back to us being younger, we would have slumber parties and we'd be dancing with our friends."
  • In her My Time AGAIN documentary, Minaj explained that she wanted to make a sexy, fun record that was "super singalong," which is what led her to this. There is a message behind the song, however. "It was geared toward being proud of your body," she said. "It empowers women. There are lots of thick girls who told me, 'thank you.'"
  • Asked by Complex magazine what she wanted to accomplish with the track, Minaj replied: "I wanted to create a song that embraced curvy women."

    "I wanted to be sexual but be playful with it," she added. "And I wanted it to be so melodic that even if you don't understand English you could still go along with the melody and you would have no idea about all the raunchy s--t I'm saying - I get a kick out of that."
  • The song was a simple one to write. "I just created the melody and then I let the words happen," Minaj said. "I started laughing when I said, 'Boy toy named Troy.' [Laughs.] That whole song, I was just being dumb. It was a joke."

    "My biggest thing was seeing how my girlfriends Sherika and Thembi were going to react," she added. "If they don't like a song, they'll be like, 'No.' As soon as they walked in the studio, we were laughing and having fun. I thought, if we're doing this, then everybody is going to have fun with it."
  • Nicki Minaj posted a series of people doing the pose similar to her controversial cover for Anaconda, all whom were white. Minaj claimed that those were considered acceptable, but then posted a picture of her cover and said it was considered unacceptable, implying the obvious racism in the music industry, and world. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Diana - United States
  • Thanks to the visuals to accompany this song, the phrase "anaconda butt" entered the lexicon in 2014. Soon after the Minaj was seen in her famous squat, memes appeared, with the butt appearing on the Google and Facebook logos, Marge Simpson, even the Sistine Chapel.

    Minaj was amused. "We had so much entertainment on Instagram," she said.
  • This won for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.
  • Nicki Minaj immerses herself in her own music, meticulously sifting through recordings, rewriting verses, altering tones, experimenting with drums, and making revisions. It took a whopping 27 versions of "Anaconda" before she deemed it worthy of being a single. "I'm a bit... particular," she conceded to Vogue. "Sometimes things that the best engineer in the world wouldn't hear, I hear. And you know what? I am always right."
  • Minaj threw shade on this song when she spoke at a Pollstar conference in 2020. "I wish I never recorded 'Anaconda,'" she said. "I like the video, but... ugh."

Comments: 3

  • Siahara Shyne Carter from United StatesAlways in my background music I love her voice Not annoying ;-) just cool feminine voice!
  • Dean from Wilmington NjI Love Nicki Minaj she is very fun and cool and sexy she's perfect. And this is her best song!
  • Adam from Cartersville GaI love all of her video's because she looks so good just like all the other women in them
see more comments

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