After soaring to #1 on the Hot 100 with the Rick James-sampling ‘Super Freaky Girl,’ Rap Queen Nicki Minaj looks poised to repeat the feat thanks to another sample-buoyed bop: ‘Red Ruby Da Sleeze.’
The March 3-released cut, which famously features elements of Lumidee‘s early 2000’s hit ‘Never Leave You (Uh Oh),’ earned praise from the Rap diva’s fans for housing a gritty performance akin to what was found on her early mixtapes.
“Who the f**k told bitches they was me now? / I knew these bitches was slow, I ain’t know these bitches senile / Married a shooter case you ni**as tried to breathe loud,” she spit on the Go Grizzly & Cheeze Beatz-produced track.
Jetting to the top of real-time iTunes sales tallies shortly after its unveiling, the tune’s weeklong domination of digital hitlists not only led it to be the week’s top female Hot 100 debut (among all genres) but ‘Ruby’ also shines with Hip-Hop’s biggest opening of the year so far.
Details inside.
One of the strongest first-week sums of 2023 accompanied Minaj’s latest hit, ‘Ruby,’ to a #13 premiere on the refreshed Hot 100. Look below to see the potent combo that drove the GRAMMY nominee to her newest top 20 debut.
- Streaming ≈ 13.8 million U.S.-based streams
- Digital Downloads ≈ 41,000 sold
- Radio Airplay ≈ 2.3 million audience impressions
Powered primarily by pure sales, the 41,000 attached to the first-week sales of ‘Ruby’ come as the most any Hip-Hop song has scored this year. Among all genres, it ranks second only to the whopping 70,000 copies Minaj’s former nemesis Miley Cyrus sold when she planted her latest hit, ‘Flowers,‘ at #1.
Notably, the #13 arrival of ‘Ruby’ also gives Nicki her 44th top 20 hit. The win not only extends her record as the female rapper with the most printed titles in the chart region but the Rap Queen also ties Queen of Pop Madonna‘s longstanding top 20 record.
Madge became the first female performer in Hot 100 history to have 44 top 20 hits when her 2012 smash, ‘Give Me All Your Luvin,’ debuted at #13 in February that year. Interestingly, Minaj also features on that Martin Solveig-produced song.