Last Friday, Nicki Minaj slid through in the royal procession, standing out the sunroof with paintball gun in hand. Without mercy, she fired off shots at the men of hip-hop, simultaneously clowning and complimenting them throughout Queen highlight “Barbie Dreams.” Though much was made about the lyrical content itself, Nicki appeared rejuvenated, coming through with a welcome blend of energy and charisma; in short, a performance befitting a Queen.
Clearly, Minaj was struck with a notable burst of inspiration, as evidenced by the confidence in her authoritative delivery. Now, Nicki’s longtime engineer Aubry “Big Juice” Delaine has sat down with Rolling Stone for an interview on the process. For those interested in the behind-the-scenes perspective, there’s plenty on interesting insight to glean, including a brief idea of the chronology behind Queen’s recording order. However, one thing in particular that stands out is Nicki’s aptitude for “freestyling” her songs. According to Big Juice, Nicki’s approach to “Barbie Dreams” was something to behold.
“She told me to load up that beat, put it on loop, and give her about twenty or thirty minutes,” says Juice. “Then she goes in the booth and lays that shit down, and that’s what you got. I didn’t know what she was gonna say. I wanna say she did 90% of that in one take.”
The results speak for themselves. For more from Big Juice, check out the entire interview over at Rolling Stone.
