“Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj

“Anaconda” is a song filled with sexual innuendo, specifically about behinds. Nicki lays it bare as she counters the widely held perspective that sexy women are supposed to be skinny.

The title “Anaconda” is taken from Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”, where he uses the code word for a particular (exclusively-male) part of his body. This is to say that he’s only interested in ladies with a huge behind, just like Nicki portrays.

Minaj talks about two different men in the song, however the message is the same. Both guys are interested in her because she has a great body and intimate appeal. They are also very rich and buy her expensive clothes and shoes whenever they are done enjoying each other.

She also seemingly mocks girls with skinnier behinds as she focuses her attention on her huge assets, which are also normally possessed by black women.

Speaking in an interview with Complex, Nicki explained the concept of the song, “Anaconda”. According to her, she wanted it to be a song that embraced curvy women in an intimate, yet playful manner.

Facts about “Anaconda”

• This hip-hop tune was released on August 4th, 2014. It is featured as the 12th track on the Minaj’s third career album, named, The Pinkprint. Minaj dropped this song as the album’s second single.
• A music video for “Anaconda” was released on August 19th, 2014. Famous video director, Colin Tiley is responsible for directing this video. Canadian rap icon, Drake is featured on this video.
• This track’s visual won the award for Best Hip-Hop Video at the MTV Video Music Awards held in 2015. The single was also nominated under the category of Best Female Video, which it lost to Taylor Swift’s hit “Blank Space”.
• The rapper’s first live performance for this song was at the MTV Music Video Awards in 2014. At the event, she also performed “Bang Bang” together with Ariana Grande and Jessie J, the song’s other joint singers.
• “Anaconda” performed well on the global charts. For example, its peak rankings in the United States and in the UK were #2 and #3 respectively.
• The song did not fail to prove its amazing success in other regions like Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, where it ranked within the top 10.
• “Anaconda” received covers from a host of recording artists, such as the 2016 version performed by Armenian singer, EMMY.
• South Korean singer, Leo also released his version of this single in 2014. American parody artist, Bart Baker performed a parody of the song in 2014.

Who wrote Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda”?

Nicki wrote the song herself. However, she did so with the help of numerous other songwriters, including the following:

• Polow da Don
• Da Internz
• Sir Mix-a-Lot
• Jonathan Solone-Myvett.

Who produced this song?

“Anaconda” was produced by Da Internz and Polow da Don. They were assisted by co-producer Jonathan Solone-Myvett. All three producers also co-wrote the song.

Does this song make use of samples?

Yes. Sir Mix-a-Lot’s 1992 hit “Baby Got Back” is heavily sampled in it. Other songs sampled in this tune include the 1984 classic hit “Yes It’s You” by Sweet Charles Sherrell.

Did Nicki Minaj win a Grammy Award for “Anaconda”?

No. However, she received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Song for 2015. It was beaten by “i”, a track performed by Kendrick Lamar.