Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” Becomes First Song By A Solo Female Rapper To Debut At #1 Since 1998

Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” Becomes First Song By A Solo Female Rapper To Debut At #1 Since 1998

Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” enters the Billboard Hot 100 on top this week. Per Billboard, it’s the 63rd song to debut at #1 in the chart’s 64-year history. It’s Minaj’s third #1 hit and second #1 debut; she previously hit the top as a guest on Doja Cat’s “Say So” remix and soared in at #1 with the 6ix9ine collab “Trollz,” both in 2020.

“Super Freaky Girl” is Minaj’s 21st top-10 single and her 124th Hot 100 hit. Perhaps most notably, it marks the first time a solo female rapper with no featured guests has debuted at #1 since Lauryn Hill did it with “Doo Wop (That Thing)” in 1998, when songs debuting at #1 was still a new and rare phenomenon. As its title implies, “Super Freaky Girl” samples Rick James’ 1981 funk classic “Super Freak,” which was also the basis for MC Hammer’s 1990 pop-rap favorite “U Can’t Touch This” — a real Russian nesting doll situation that should be fun to unpack when our Number Ones column gets around to this one.

Immediately following Minaj this week are three former chart-toppers: Harry Styles’ “As It Was” at #2, Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” at #3, and Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” at #4. Kate Bush’s Netflix-resurrected “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” falls to #5. “Bad Habit,” Steve Lacy’s biggest career hit by far, holds steady at #6. Nicky Youre and dazy’s “Sunroof” rises to a new #7 peak, followed by Future, Drake, and Tems’ “Wait For U” at #8. Rounding out the top 10 are two more collabs, Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone’s “Me Porto Bonito” at #9 and Post Malone and Doja Cat’s “I Like You (A Happier Song)” at #10.

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