Entertainment

And Nicki's Next Single Is...

by Kadeen Griffiths

It was easy to get distracted by all of the red carpet looks and awesome performances, but Nicki Minaj announced the title of her next single at the Billboard Music Awards Sunday night. The name of the single is "Pills and Potions" — stylized "Pills N Potions" according to Minaj's Twitter — and the song comes out on Wednesday in what Minaj promises is going to be a bunch of different, heart-pounding sounds blended into one.

"It sounds like urgency," Minaj said during her red carpet interview with Billboard. "It sounds like betrayal. It sounds like running. It sounds like fainting. It sounds like love. It sounds like—" She then gasped, which was a more effective tool to make her point than any of the other descriptive phrases put together.

Considering the new aesthetic that Minaj seems to be going for with The Pink Print, the fact that "Pills N Potions" sounds like love is an interesting thing. Minaj's past love songs, such as "Your Love" and "Super Bass", were pop with a hip hop flavor while The Pink Print has thus far sounded more like Minaj's hit-or-miss return to the hard raps and inventive rhymes that carried her to the top. Can she successfully blend her new sound with her old themes?

On Monday morning, Minaj changed her Twitter avatar to the cover of "Pills N Potions" and answered that question with a tentative yes.

The more creative and revealing outfits that we've seen Minaj wear over the years, both before and after her recent demure makeover, overshadow the simple shot of her standing braless in a white tank top with bunny ears on her head. However, the image evokes both sides of her image, both old and new. The bunny ears display Minaj's infamous playful side and love of costumes, the lack of bra and deep cleavage hint at her absolute and well-justified pride in her body and sexuality, and the minimal makeup and tame hairstyle add the class and realness that Minaj has stepped into in her post-The Other Woman style.

Whether or not the single itself will live up to everything that Minaj has built it up to be still remains to be seen, but she's done enough to get everyone excited to hear what she's come up with next. Meanwhile, The Pink Print will reportedly come out before 2015.

Watch her Billboard interview below.

Image: NickiMinaj/Twitter