Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice dropped their “Barbie World (with Aqua)” song and music video on Friday, June 23, and let me just say — fans are not disappointed. Released ahead of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie, which hits theaters on July 21, this collab of two rap queens is the perfect song to blast while you wait to see Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling hit the big screen as Barbie and Ken.
Not only did the two rappers put their own spin on Aqua’s “Barbie Girl,” but they looked damn good doing it, too. I think this music video is extremely smart from beginning to end. The beginning looks like a Barbie commercial, with girls playing with Barbie dolls — though in this case, the dolls resemble Nicki and Ice Spice. We see one doll with a red afro, which is Ice Spice’s signature look, and then another doll in a long pink wig, that can represent Nicki in her Barbie attire. Nicki and Ice Spice start the video in cute tops and skirts surrounded by men, which can ultimately represent the cuteness and innocence that we associate Barbie dolls with.
But immediately in the next clip, that idea is turned on its head. The video cuts to Miss Minaj as a life-size Barbie dressed in a crop top and Chanel, as she towers over all of the men — absolutely iconic behavior for Queen Nicki. We even get little snippets of the men bowing down to her and being in shock over how perfect she is. The music video takes us on a whole rollercoaster of different clips that show us the true girl power that Barbie represents.
Now, more about the aesthetics of the video, because there’s a lot to cover. We see Nicki and Ice Spice flying through pink clouds on jet skis as if they own the sky. Not to mention, the sexy bathing suits they wear emphasize their curves so well — they know they’re hot, and we know it too. This new Barbie music video correlates so well with the last Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj music video the world received a couple of months ago: “Princess Diana.” In that video, we see similar pink backgrounds, bathing suits, and a whole lot of girlbossing coming from the both of them. We’ve gotten two iconic collabs from these two rappers already in 2023, and they have yet to disappoint the world with their visual aesthetics.
This is also only the first of many songs on the Barbie soundtrack that we should be getting pumped for. We’ll also hear Charli XCX, Tame Impala, Dua Lipa, and Dominic Fike to name a few of the artists on the soundtrack. This is going to be such an iconic movie, and I already know we’ll all be listening to the soundtrack on repeat after the film releases in theaters on July 21 (P.S.: You can already buy your tickets now!).