“Trollz” isn’t just the name of an ill-fated, millennial update of the long-running doll franchise, it’s also the title of Nicki Minaj‘s upcoming reunion with Tekashi 69. It’s certainly apt — over the past couple of years, both rappers have become better known for attention-baiting antics than their music, but the former often seems to drive consumption of the latter. Since their last collaboration, “Fefe,” went multi-platinum, reached No. 3 on the Hot 100, and became one of the most successful singles for both artists, they’ve apparently decided to go back to the well with “Trollz,” which they announced releases this Friday, June 12. Proceeds of the song will reportedly be donated to The Bail Project.
Just as with their previous collaboration, the announcement drew a massive reaction from fans online. Nicki previously drew criticism for working with Tekashi on “Fefe” because of his trolling shenanigans and his past sexual misconduct case. That was before Tekashi was arrested as a part of a racketeering sweep of the Nine Trey Bloods gang who backed his rise to fame by lending him legitimacy and muscle — and before Tekashi agreed to testify against them in exchange for a shorter sentence.
This time around, the Barbz stepped up to defend their queen once again, but had a much harder hill to defend from critics. While some pointed out Tekashi’s upcoming collaboration with Akon based on Akon’s hit single “Locked Up” in an attempt to deflect, others noted that it’d still be a hit thanks to all the buzz surrounding it, based on the success of “Fefe.”
My question is why is it only a problem when it comes to Nicki, because 6ix9ine was just posted up with Akon and literally nothing was said. But now it’s WW3 because of Nicki? What’s really the issue here
— fela (@dejimaraj) June 10, 2020
So y’all mad at Nicki for collaborating with him but not mad at Akon for doing the same thing ? The only y’all said when it was akon was that he is wearing a Wig ..hypocrisy or what ? #TROLLZ #trolls Nicki Minaj….Onika will do whatever she wants ! pic.twitter.com/7gNcCXOH3o
— Trollz (@bhadguychunli) June 10, 2020
you all try and cancel nicki minaj but how about u actually cancel him instead? y’all tried 5 times but u can’t ever do it, just say it’s easier to cancel a black woman and go
— josh (@badgaIminaj) June 10, 2020
Me reading all of the Nicki slander in the Shaderoom’s comments knowing they still about to be streaming this Friday #TROLLZ pic.twitter.com/o2eUMWQQwb
— Joshua Chenault (@joshuachenault1) June 10, 2020
However, plenty of people expressed disappointment in Nicki for reuniting with 69 in light of the latest round of hip-hop rules he’s supposedly violated.
so…can someone throw 69 under the fucking jail bc im tired of seeing his rainbow brite looking ass
out of all the people Nicki could have collabed with chile…. pic.twitter.com/IygFXud8fs
— #blacklivematter (@swttnnrr) June 10, 2020
it’s just disappointing to see a black artist like Nicki collab with this white man again , he constantly uses the N word…. like that’s just ?? let’s not even forget he’s a pedophile… Nicki sis what you doing
pic.twitter.com/cR3wqBL02v
— hil. (@grandesheal) June 10, 2020
god giving nicki minaj her talent vs her good judgement pic.twitter.com/s0WHoFBObD
— Aaron (@thatlevity) June 10, 2020
Nicki is talented as fuck . I’ll always respect her hustle.
But she has terrible judgement to me. Why is she continuously working with this nonblack sex offender who says nigga and using childlike aesthetics in the single art???
Onika this aint it.
— Andé (@HeyImAnde) June 10, 2020
As usual, it appears that controversy is the best promotion — for a while, at least. We’ll see how things turn out for Nicki and Tekashi on Friday. For now, you can check out the reactions to her latest collaboration above.