"Massive Attack" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Nicki Minaj featuring Sean Garrett | ||||
Released | April 13, 2010 | |||
Format | Digital download | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:58 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
|
|||
Nicki Minaj singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
Sean Garrett singles chronology | ||||
|
"Massive Attack" is a song by American rapper Nicki Minaj and American recording artist Sean Garrett. Written by Minaj, co-written and produced by Garrett and Alex da Kid, "Massive Attack" was released on April 13, 2010. It was initially intended to be the first single from Minaj's debut studio album Pink Friday, but the release was later scrapped in favor of "Your Love". The song was a distinct change in Minaj's previous work on mixtapes and features, thus receiving mixed to positive reviews from critics, commending lyrical content and distinctiveness, and critiquing that it did not fit her "Barbie" persona well. An accompanying music video which features a helicopter chase, and militaristic jungle and desert scenes, was positively received.
Commercially, the song had limited success, reaching number 27 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart but only managing to peak at 99 Billboard Hot 100. Later in an interview with Billboard magazine, Garrett revealed that the song would not be included on Pink Friday and that the poor performance of the song was out of his control, "I was only able to do as much as I was allowed to do. Sometimes you have to step back and get off the wheel. I didn't have control of the entire creative process. A lot of [other] artists trust me enough and allow me to do what I know is best to do as a producer".
In an interview with Rap-Up in March 2010, Minaj revealed the title to the song, and Garrett later hinted around details around his single with Minaj, stating,
"I just did Nicki’s first single featuring me. It’s gonna be a fucking bomb. It’s very, very explosive! It’s a club banger. It’s a lot broader than what people would expect her to come with. The record puts her in the game in a way that says she should’ve been here a long time ago. She has a real way of how she wants to do this. It’s just gonna be a surprise when it comes. She just wants to make it as huge as possible."
Additionally, co-producer Alex da Kid said, "I started on the train and finished in the studio. I knew it was special from the start. It wasn't like I was aiming for Nicki with this track; I had a idea I thought was crazy. Nicki heard it and the rest was history." In an interview with MTV News, Minaj stated when she first heard the song she felt she was in Africa and fell in love with the drum beats, and commented, "It's a very rare. ... You're not gonna get the song the first time you hear it. After the second or third time, you're gonna be like, 'Whoa, what is this?' It sounds nothing like anything that's out right now." She also called the song "next-level futuristic", and said that she chose Garrett for the song in that he would be the best to "illustrate Nicki Minaj", as he got her and her personality". In an interview on the set of the video shoot for "Massive Attack", Minaj said, "I'm excited for people to hear me ... doing more than one verse. It's really creative. I wanted to be theatrical, but I am very serous about what I do." Also on the set of the video, Garrett said, "We wanted to give her something that was global," he continued. "We wanted to give her something that was urban; we wanted to give her something that was mainstream pop, you know what I mean, that the world could get a chance to see her out on this pedestal. And of course, you know, I had to come along with her, because I've got an album dropping soon." The song made its debut March 29, 2010 on WQHT. The song leaked onto the Internet on March 30, 2010, the day before its music video premiere on 106 & Park. The single's art cover was revealed on April 1, 2010, featuring a still of Minaj in the music video as a ninja and comic book font designs. Alex da Kid said that a lot of artists wanted the beat such as Jamie Foxx and Young Jeezy but he gave it to Nicki because it fit her "quirky, left-field vibe."