Last night (April 6), Nicki Minaj brought “Carpool Karaoke” back with a bang.
The popular singalong show had been paused for two years due to social distancing restrictions put in place for the coronavirus pandemic. “The Late Late Show” host James Corden recruited none other than Ms. Nicki Minaj-Nicki Lewinsky for the show’s grand return.
As the segment begins, Corden is seen driving a vehicle saying, “Thank you so much for helping me get to work. I really appreciate it.” The camera then shows a wide shot that reveals Minaj in the passenger seat replying, “My pleasure — anytime,” as we hear a crowd roaring with joy.
Corden then asks, “Do you mind if we listen to some music?”
As he turns on the radio, Minaj’s chart-topping “Anaconda” begins to play. The song, — which samples Sir Mix-a-Lot’s 1992 “Baby Got Back” — featured on her The Pinkprint album, was released in 2014 and has over a billion views on YouTube. The music video was such a hit that Madame Tussauds immortalized it with a wax figure displaying Minaj in a scene from the video. The wax figure did receive a bit of backlash, but overall, that’s still what we call “iconic.”
Minaj and Corden continue to belt out lyrics and dance in their seats as she helps him get to work.
Next, Minaj gives her best Adele impression. “I go viral for basically anything,” Minaj says in her best English accent. She continues, “I sit down at the basketball game, right? I don’t look in the camera and I’m viral. Do you know what I mean? Like people pay for these sorts of viral moments.”
Corden asks Minaj if she’s seen Adele’s impression when she rapped her 2010 hit, “Monster,” to which Minaj responds, “I just loved it.” Minaj goes on to say, “She made me so so happy. She embodied Nicki Minaj.”
The show pulls up a clip of Adele’s episode with the “Easy on Me” singer channeling her inner Minaj.
If car rides were always this fun, we wouldn’t mind LA traffic.
The episode also featured new music from Minaj, lessons in lingo and an odd confession from Corden about issues with his neighbor’s family dog, among other topics.
Past guests of the show include Bruno Mars, Britney Spears and Missy Elliot, who shared her episode with former First Lady Michelle Obama.
“Carpool Karaoke” airs on CBS.