After a slew of features on albums of fellow hip hop artist the self proclaimed (and arguably so) queen of rap, Nicki Minaj dropped not one but two singles.

First she announced the release of Barbie Tingz, immediately I was hyped because Nicki’s original era was her barbie phase and by far her most innovative and I was anticipating a return to her roots. I Was anything but underwhelmed. Nicki absolutely embodied the original Harajuku Barbie we all knew and loved. She resuscitated her extravagant persona for this single and it saw through. She even shouts out her original team, Weezy and Drake as an ode to her old self. Barbie Tingz brought a hard beat with a flow to match , this doesn’t even include her lyricism which is clever and perfectly shady.

This upbeat bop was a big jump from her 2015 album “The Pink Print” which was filled with sentiment and meant to close out on a chapter in her life that was filled with aggression and pain.

Though I love that album for it’s meaningful bangers I was overwhelmed with joy to hear Nicki throw it back to a “Pink Friday” kind of vibe and make an empowered bad bitch bop.

Nicki’s second single, Chun Li is, get this, even better than Barbie Tingz. After being depicted as the “bad guy” of rap by the media, Nicki used this single to stop fighting and embrace it. She stops the song for a quick comment to say “It’s the last time you’ll see a bad guy do the rap game like me” and follows it up with an iconic “prr” which sent chills up my spine. Chun Li was a perfect blend of comebacks and empowerment.

All there is left to do now is wait for Nicki’s full throttle return with a whole new studio album.