We are truly in the post-pandemic era, apparently, because two things shut down by COVID-19 have reentered the spotlight: James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke, and Nicki Minaj.
The Late Late Show‘s famous segment — in which musicians join Corden in the front seat of a car and sing along to their own greatest hits — returned last night, and Minaj served as the first guest in the hot seat in two years. The show sold the segment as a return to normalcy, proclaiming in a preview, “After two years of not being allowed to sit this close, social distancing is over.” Maybe that’s why Corden selected the, uh, vaccine hesitant Minaj as the guest to mark the occasion.
Corden and Minaj ran through the rapper’s hits, starting with the iconic “Anaconda.” “You see how meaning the words are?” Minaj joked. “The inspiration!” At this point, she slipped into a fake British accent for some reason, which to Corden sounded a bit like Adele. After parodying the English vocal powerhouse some more, Minaj “dueted” with Adele via the latter’s own Carpool Karaoke rendition of the unparalleled “Monster” verse. She also tried her hand at “Someone Like You,” but let’s just say one artist’s impression was better than the other’s.
Throughout the drive, Minaj and Corden also rocked “Blick Blick,” Super Bass,” “Do We Have a Problem,” “Chun-Li,” and “Starships.” Between beats, they discussed hip-hop lingo, beat writing, and Minaj’s clarinet skills (or lack there of). She also revealed why she is frequently eating ice as a means to battle anxiety, and how having a child has changed her perspective on both her career and social media. Watch the extended segment below.
Carpool Karaoke returns April 18th with Camila Cabello. As for Minaj, she has so far this year released two singles with Lil Baby: “Do We Have a Problem?” and “Bussin.”
