Nicki Minaj and the American rapper Eminem released a track entitled 'Roman's Revenge' on iTunes yesterday (October 31st 2010). The song sees Minaj adopt her alter ego ROMAN ZOLANKSI as she goes head-to-head with EMINEM's SLIM SHADY character in a rap battle.
Minaj spoke about 'Roman's Revenge' on the MTV's 'RapFix Live' show, saying, "We went out on a whim and put it in the air like, 'It'd be great if he would collaborate with us. I remember I kept talking about it, and I thought, 'It can't hurt.' I sent him one record, and he didn't love it. He didn't say, 'I don't love it'; he just said, 'Can you send me something that's a little more me?", adding, "I sent him an e-mail and thanked him for that, just having enough respect. Sometimes people don't respond".
The track itself opens with strings, followed by a heavy drum and bass line. Minaj begins rapping, "I am not Jasmine, I am Aladdin/ So far ahead, these bums is laggin", before Eminem bring his own unsettling 'Shady' persona to proceedings. Minaj's debut album , 'Pink Friday' is set for release on November 22nd 2010, and the track-listing was recently leaked. The album is set to feature tracks that include, 'Blazin', featuring Kanye West, and 'Last Chance', featuring Natasha Bedingfield.