Verified archive entry

Barbie Dreams

Barbie Dreams is a diss track by Nicki Minaj targeting 50 Cent, Meek Mill, 6ix9ine, DJ Khaled, Drake, Young Thug, Quavo, Lil Uzi Vert, Fetty Wap, Future, Desiigner, Kanye West, YG, Eminem, Bow Wow, The Game, Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Tyson, Young M.A and Lady Luck. Nicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

Released2018
Annotated19
ExplicitYes
Addressable transcript

Lyrics & breakdown

Demo lines only. Select a line number to copy a stable deep link.

  1. 01

    [Intro]

    02

    Uh, mmm, kyuh

    03

    R.I.P. to B.I.G. 

  2. 04

    Classic shit

  3. 05

    [Verse 1]

    06

    I'm lookin' for a nigga to give some babies

    07

    A handful of Weezy, sprinkle of Dave East

  4. 08

    Man, I ain't got no type like Jxmmi and Swae Lees

    09

    But if he can't fuck three times a night, peace!

  5. 10

    I tried to fuck 50 for a powerful hour

    Multi-line diss block
    11

    But all that nigga wanna do is talk Power for hours

    Block noteSays 50 would turn sex into a Power meeting

    Target50 Cent

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki imagines one hour with 50 Cent being consumed by conversation about his television series Power instead of sex. Why it was said: The joke reduces 50's relentless executive promotion to a bedroom flaw—he is so committed to selling the franchise that even intimacy becomes another pitch meeting.

    Wordplay‘Powerful hour’ folds the title Power into the length of the imagined encounter, then repeats ‘Power for hours’ to make the brand overwhelm the date.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  6. 12

    B-beat the pussy up, make sure it's a K-O

    Multi-line diss block
    13

    Step your banks up like you're movin' that yayo

    Block noteBuilds a 50 Cent joke from his G-Unit circle

    Target50 Cent

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki turns a sexual ‘knockout’ into a string of references connected to 50 Cent, telling him to raise his standing through Banks and yayo. Why it was said: The joke tests how much of 50's identity is inseparable from the crew and businesses around him; even the sexual boast is assembled from names in his own orbit.

    WordplayK-O suggests a knockout and 50's boxing interests; ‘banks’ evokes Lloyd Banks; ‘yayo’ means cocaine and invokes Tony Yayo, both G-Unit members.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  7. 14

    Somebody go and make sure Karrueche okay, though

    Multi-line diss block
    15

    I heard she think I'm tryna give the coochie to Quavo

    Block noteTurns a Quavo rumor into mock concern for Karrueche

    TargetQuavo

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki jokes that Karrueche Tran may think Nicki plans to sleep with Quavo and tells someone to check on her. Why it was said: The song exaggerates industry gossip into imaginary sexual competition, placing Nicki in control while Quavo's rumored relationship becomes material for a public wink rather than a serious allegation.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  8. 16

    They always wanna beat it up, goon up the pussy

    Multi-line diss block
    17

    Man, maybe I should let him autotune up the pussy

    Block noteMakes Quavo's musical habits part of the bedroom joke

    TargetQuavo

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki extends the Quavo scenario by blending aggressive sex language with Auto-Tune, a recognizable feature of the Migos member's melodic delivery. Why it was said: Each ‘Barbie Dreams’ roast converts an artist's signature into a reason the fantasy would be absurd; here studio processing becomes something Quavo would supposedly bring into sex.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  9. 18

    All these Bow Wow Challenge niggas lyin' and shit

    Multi-line diss block
    19

    Man, these Fetty Wap niggas stay eyein' my shit

    Block notePairs Bow Wow's fake-flight meme with Fetty's eye

    TargetBow Wow

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki calls out men copying the Bow Wow Challenge—staging luxury travel they were not actually taking—then says Fetty Wap keeps ‘eyeing’ her. Why it was said: Both jokes puncture male presentation through highly recognizable public details: Bow Wow's viral private-jet embarrassment supplies the dishonesty, while Fetty's one-eyed appearance supplies the visual pun. Bow Wow is the main target of the first line; Fetty Wap is the secondary target in the same compact block.

    Wordplay‘Eyeing’ is ordinary sexual attention but also points to Fetty Wap's well-known loss of one eye; the Bow Wow Challenge refers to the 2017 meme about staged luxury posts.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  10. 20

    Drake worth a hundred mill, he always buyin' me shit

    Multi-line diss block
    21

    But I don't know if the pussy wet or if he cryin' and shit

    Block noteMakes Drake's wealth useless against the crying joke

    TargetDrake

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki acknowledges Drake's hundred-million-dollar wealth and generosity, then says she cannot distinguish sexual wetness from his tears. Why it was said: The roast takes the traits that make Drake powerful—money and emotional openness—and makes the second cancel the first in an imagined encounter, preserving affection while denying him a conventionally hard persona.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  11. 22

    Meek still be in my DMs, I be havin' to duck him

    Multi-line diss block
    23

    "I used to pray for times like this" face-ass when I fuck him

    Block noteUses Meek's own anthem to mock his persistence

    TargetMeek Mill

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki says former partner Meek Mill still messages her and pictures him quoting his ‘Dreams and Nightmares’ opening during sex. Why it was said: The breakup was public, so the joke lets Nicki control the post-relationship narrative and turns Meek's most triumphant lyric into overeager gratitude for renewed access.

    Wordplay‘I used to pray for times like this’ is the famous opening of Meek's ‘Dreams and Nightmares’; here ‘times like this’ means the imagined sexual reunion.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  12. 24

    Man, Uzi is my baby, he ain't takin' a L

    Multi-line diss block
    25

    But he took it literally when I said "Go to hell"

    Block noteMakes Uzi too young to understand the rejection

    TargetLil Uzi Vert

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki calls Lil Uzi Vert her baby and says he interprets ‘go to hell’ literally rather than recognizing a dismissal. Why it was said: The maternal framing keeps the roast playful but unequal: Uzi is a younger associate whose innocence turns even rejection into a childlike misunderstanding.

    Wordplay‘He ain't takin' a L’ uses L for a loss; the next line converts the letter into the final sound of ‘hell,’ which Uzi supposedly follows literally.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  13. 26

    Used to fuck with Young Thug, I ain't addressin' this shit

    Multi-line diss block
    27

    C-caught him in my dressing room, stealin' dresses and shit

    Block noteTurns Young Thug's fashion into a dressing-room theft

    TargetYoung Thug

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki says she stopped dealing with Young Thug after catching him taking dresses from her dressing room. Why it was said: Young Thug's gender-fluid fashion had become a major part of his image; the joke does not merely mention a dress, but comically casts Nicki as the original owner whose wardrobe he raids.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  14. 28

    I used to give this nigga with a lisp tests and shit

    Multi-line diss block
    29

    How you want the pu-thy? Can't say your S's and shit, uh

    Block noteBuilds a sex joke around Young Thug's pronunciation

    TargetYoung Thug

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki says she used to test a man with a lisp, then imitates the way he would pronounce an explicit request; in the sequence, the unnamed pronoun continues the Young Thug joke. Why it was said: After the dress line targets image, this couplet targets voice, turning a recognizable unconventional delivery into a mock obstacle to saying what he wants.

    Wordplay‘Lisp tests’ is a rhyme and setup for replacing the s sound in ‘pussy’ with ‘th’ in the following question.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  15. 30

    [Chorus]

    31

    Dreams of fuckin' one of these little rappers

    32

    I'm just playin', but I'm sayin' (Barbie dreams)

  16. 33

    Dreams of fuckin' one of these little rappers

    34

    I'm just playin', but I'm sayin' (B-B-B-Barbie dreams)

  17. 35

    Dreams of fuckin' one of these little rappers

    36

    I'm just playin', but I'm sayin' (B-B-B-Barbie, B-B-B-Barbie dreams)

  18. 37

    Dreams of fuckin' one of these little rappers (Barbie dreams)

    38

    I'm just playin', but I'm sayin'

  19. 39

    [Verse 2]

    Multi-line diss block
    40

    I remember when I used to have a crush on Special Ed

    41

    Shoutout Desiigner 'cause he made it out of special ed

    Block noteTurns Desiigner's name into a special-education pun

    TargetDesiigner

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki moves from remembering rapper Special Ed to congratulating Desiigner for getting out of ‘special ed.’ Why it was said: The joke makes Desiigner's unusual delivery and stage name sound like the biography of a student leaving special education, reducing a successful peer to a schoolyard punchline rather than alleging a real diagnosis.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  20. 42

    You wanna fuck me, you gotta give some special head

    43

    'Cause this pussy have these niggas on some special meds

  21. 44

    Like Mike Tyson, he was bitin' my shit

    Multi-line diss block
    45

    Talkin' 'bout, "Yo, why you got these niggas fightin' and shit?"

    Block noteUses Mike Tyson's bite as an imitation accusation

    TargetMike Tyson

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki says Mike Tyson was ‘biting’ her material while asking why she was making the men fight. Why it was said: Tyson's notorious ring bite lets Nicki turn ‘biting’—rap language for copying—into literal biography, while his role as a boxer fits the song's fantasy of male rivals fighting for her attention.

    Wordplay‘Biting my shit’ means stealing material in rap and recalls Tyson biting Evander Holyfield; ‘fighting’ returns the line to Tyson's profession.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  22. 46

    On the, on the real, I should make these niggas scrap for the pussy

    Multi-line diss block
    47

    Young M.A and Lady Luck, get the strap for this pussy, uh

    Block noteMakes Young M.A and Lady Luck the armed challengers

    TargetYoung M.A

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki imagines men fighting over her, then tells Young M.A and Lady Luck to ‘get the strap’ and join the pursuit. Why it was said: Bringing two openly queer or masculine-presenting women into the fantasy flips a heterosexual rapper-namecheck format and casts Nicki as the prize across gender lines. Young M.A is the main target; Lady Luck shares the invitation.

    Wordplay‘Strap’ can mean a gun or a strap-on, allowing the line to keep both battle and sexual meanings active.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  23. 48

    And I woulda had Odell Beckham bangin' the cake

    Multi-line diss block
    49

    'Til I saw him hoppin' out of cars dancin' to Drake

    Block noteRejects Odell over his viral Drake dance

    TargetOdell Beckham Jr.

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki says she might have slept with Odell Beckham Jr. until she saw him doing the viral dance connected to Drake's ‘In My Feelings.’ Why it was said: The joke treats visible enthusiasm for another man's record as uncool enough to cancel Odell's athletic and celebrity appeal, applying rap's masculinity policing to an NFL star.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  24. 50

    I been a five-star bitch, man, word to Gotti

    Multi-line diss block
    51

    I'ma do that nigga Future dirty, word to Scottie

    Block noteInvokes Scottie Pippen to threaten Future with payback

    TargetFuture

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki says she will do Future ‘dirty’ and invokes Scottie, pointing to the public gossip linking Future with Scottie Pippen's then-wife Larsa. Why it was said: Rather than invent a flaw in Future's music, the roast borrows a relationship story around him and promises to reverse its humiliation so the reputed disruptor becomes the one treated badly.

    Wordplay‘Word to Scottie’ makes Scottie Pippen the key to ‘do Future dirty,’ invoking the reported Larsa Pippen–Future connection without spelling it out.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  25. 52

    Had to cancel DJ Khaled, boy, we ain't speakin'

    Multi-line diss block
    53

    Ain't no fat nigga tellin' me what he ain't eatin'

    Block noteCancels Khaled over his public oral-sex comments

    TargetDJ Khaled

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki says she stopped speaking to DJ Khaled because a heavy man cannot tell her what he refuses to eat. Why it was said: Khaled had publicly said he did not perform oral sex on women; Nicki converts that double standard into a sexual deal-breaker and uses his appetite and body as the punchline.

    Wordplay‘What he ain't eatin'’ refers simultaneously to food and cunnilingus.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  26. 54

    YG and The Game with the hammer yellin', "Gang! Gang!"

    Multi-line diss block
    55

    This ain’t what I meant when I said a gang bang

    Block noteTurns YG and Game's gang cry into a sex misunderstanding

    TargetYG

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki pictures YG and The Game armed and shouting gang slogans, then says that is not the kind of ‘gang bang’ she requested. Why it was said: Their gang-affiliated public images supply the literal setup; Nicki seizes the phrase's sexual meaning so two threatening men become participants in her joke. YG is the main target and The Game is the secondary target.

    Wordplay‘Gang bang’ can describe coordinated gang violence or group sex; the couplet deliberately switches definitions between lines.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  27. 56

    Tekashi want a ménage, I said "tre-way"

    Multi-line diss block
    57

    Curved him and went the Kim and Kanye way

    Block noteRejects 6ix9ine through his own slogan

    Target6ix9ine

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki says 6ix9ine wants a ménage, answers with his ‘Treyway’ cry, then curves him and compares her choice to the married Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Why it was said: The joke lets Nicki use 6ix9ine's branding to refuse him while placing herself in the more glamorous couple's lane; Kanye is a secondary reference, not the person being rejected.

    Wordplay‘Ménage’ suggests a threesome; ‘Treyway’ sounds like ‘three-way’ while referencing the slogan associated with 6ix9ine's circle.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  28. 58

    Em, cop the Barbie Dreamhouse, then you can play the part

    Multi-line diss block
    59

    I-I ain't tryna bust it open in a trailer park

    Block noteOffers Eminem the dollhouse but rejects the trailer

    TargetEminem

    MeaningWhat it means: Nicki tells Eminem he can play a partner only if he buys the Barbie Dreamhouse, then says she will not have sex in a trailer park. Why it was said: Their long-running flirtation supplies the fantasy, while the trailer-park reference turns Eminem's working-class Detroit background and early public caricature into the condition that disqualifies him.

    WordplayThe Barbie Dreamhouse extends Nicki's doll persona; ‘play the part’ makes the relationship both role-play and a literal toy-house scene.

    ContextNicki Minaj models ‘Barbie Dreams’ on the comic sexual name-checking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Just Playing (Dreams).’ She said the jabs were playful, but each joke still turns a peer's public image, relationship or career into a roast; the annotations therefore explain the joke without inventing a serious feud.

  29. 60

    [Chorus]

    61

    Dreams of fuckin' one of these little rappers

    62

    I'm just playin', but I'm sayin' (Barbie dreams)

  30. 63

    Dreams of fuckin' one of these little rappers

    64

    I'm just playin', but I'm sayin' (B-B-B-Barbie dreams)

  31. 65

    Dreams of fuckin' one of these little rappers

    66

    I'm just playin', but I'm sayin' (B-B-B-Barbie, B-B-B-Barbie dreams)

  32. 67

    Dreams of fuckin' one of these little rappers (Barbie dreams)

    68

    I'm just playin', but I'm sayin' (B-B-B-Barbie dreams)

  33. 69

    (Barbie Dreams)

    70

    I'm just playin', but I'm sayin' (B-B-B-Barbie, B-B-B-Barbie dreams)

  34. 71

    [Verse 3]

    72

    You know I'm all 'bout them dollars

    73

    I be supportin' them scholars

  35. 74

    I let him give me some brain, but he wanted me to ride it

    75

    So I said, "Fuck it, I'm in"

  36. 76

    He wanna cut like a trim

    77

    And if he act like he know, I let him fuck it again

  37. 78

    I got them bars, I'm indicted

    79

    I'm poppin', I'm uninvited

  38. 80

    I said, "Just lick on the clitoris, nigga, don't fuckin' bite it"

    81

    I ride his **** in a circle

  39. 82

    I turn Stefan into Urkel

    83

    I go arounds and arounds and I'ma go down in slow motion

  40. 84

    The-then I pick it up, look at it

    85

    I said, "Daddy, come get at it," uh

  41. 86

    Yellow brick road, he said that I am a wiz at it

    87

    Yeah, they want it, want it

  42. 88

    You know I flaunt it, flaunt it

    89

    I'm a trendsetter, everything I do, they do

  43. 90

    Yeah, I put 'em up on it, on it

    91

    ¡Dimelo, papi, papi!

  44. 92

    Yo quiero sloppy, sloppy

    93

    I'll give it to you if you beat it up like Pacqui, Pacqui

  45. 94

    I-I-I-I'ma kill 'em with the shoe

    95

    No ceiling is in the roof

  46. 96

    And I'm big, give me the loot

    97

    12 cylinders in the coupe

  47. 98

    I get dome with the chrome, no tellin' when I'ma shoot

    99

    I just bang, bang, bang, real killas is in my group

  48. 100

    Gorillas is in my unit, vacationin' where it's humid

    101

    And I shine, shine, shine, got diamonds all in my cubans

  49. 102

    I'm in LA Times more than when niggas lootin'

    103

    And my flow spit crack, I think that nigga usin'

  50. 104

    He done bodied everybody, in closing, these bitches losin'

    105

    Usin', usin' up, a bitch movin'

  51. 106

    No, I ain't stuttered and no, I ain't Ruben

    107

    Damn, a bitch snoozin'

  52. 108

    Shoutout to my Jews, l'chaim, Rick Rubin

    109

    Big fat titties, yes, they be protrudin'

  53. 110

    I be like, fuck 'em, fuck 'em, bring the lube in

    111

    I be like, fuck 'em, fuck 'em, bring the lube in