Anaconda (Nicki Minaj song)

"Anaconda" is a song by American rapper and singer Nicki Minaj, from her third studio album, The Pinkprint (2014). It was released on August 4, 2014 by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Republic Records as the second single from the album.[2] The song was produced by Polow da Don, DJ Spider, and Da Internz. The song prominently samples "Baby Got Back" (1992) by Sir Mix-a-Lot.[3]

The song peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, consequently becoming Minaj's highest charting single in the United States to date and being blocked at the top spot by Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off". It went on to spend eight weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100 chart.[4] The song also peaked within the top ten in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. An accompanying video for the song was directed by Colin Tilley and released on August 19, 2014. Following the video's release, it broke the 24-hour streaming record on Vevo by accumulating 19.6 million views in its first day of release, being surpassed by Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" in 2015. To further promote the song, Minaj performed it live at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards and also performed it at Fashion Rocks and the iHeartRadio Music Festival. "Anaconda" was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 2015 Grammy Awards.[5] The song was also nominated for two categories at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Best Female Video and Best Hip-Hop Video, winning the latter.

On August 5, 2014, producer Polow da Don claimed the "Anaconda" instrumental was originally intended for rapper and musician Missy Elliott, but was scrapped and then re-recorded by Minaj.[7] However, on August 24, 2014, Elliott revealed to fans and followers via her Twitter account that Polow's recollections were untrue and additionally confirmed that she never received the alleged instrumental.[8] The cover art for the single went viral on the web after being revealed. On various digital music stores, the cover art is censored with the Parental Advisory label over Minaj's buttocks. The song heavily samples "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot, who also has vocals in the chorus of the song.