Nicki Minaj, Yikes | Track Review 🎵

Although she is retiring, Nicki Minaj delivers a ‘short, but sweet’ trap banger with “Yikes.” She’s not the least bit apologetic.

Cutting straight to the chase, Grammy-nominated rapper Nicki Minaj keeps it short on “Yikes,” her first new solo single of 2020.  Even though “Yikes” clocks in well under three minutes, Minaj ‘brings the heat.’  That means, we can use the phrase, “short but sweet” to describe the single. Her fire is fueled by banging production work, courtesy of Pooh Beatz.  Pooh gives Nicki a minimalist backdrop that’s characterized by its keyboards (synths) and drum programming (808s, clapping snares, and cymbals).

Enough about the production, let’s focus on the ferocious Nicki Minaj, shall we? At the onset, Nicki is turned up, asserting on the intro, “Don’t ever fuckin’ play with me.” Yes ma’am! After complimenting Pooh on his beats, she dives into the first verse, delivering two particularly notable rhymes.  (1) “All that talkin’ out your neck, might just get your throat cut…” and (2) “All you bitches Rosa Parks, uh-oh, get your ass up, uh.” Damn! The second verse doesn’t let up, dropping gems like (1) “Soon as niggas press you, boy, you throw up peace signs, yeah / You don’t want that action, pull your cards, you decline, yeah” and (2) “I give two F’s like the letters that are on my shoe.”

Of course, beyond the colorful, unapologetic verses, the ‘retired’ rapper delivers a bullet on the chorus:

“Yikes, I play tag and you it for life
Yikes, you a clown, you do it for likes
Yikes, yes, it’s tight, but it doesn’t bite
Grip it right, he be like (Woo)…”

Wow.

Final Thoughts 

Yes, Nicki Minaj is retiring… presumably.  That said, whenever her fifth studio album does arrive, could the Queen reclaim her throne and totally change her mind? Regardless, “Yikes” is a pretty sick two-and-a-half minutes of sheer cockiness and confidence from one of the best in the game.

Nicki Minaj • “Yikes” – Single • Young Money / Cash Money • Release: 2.7.2020

Photo Credits: Young Money / Cash Money