Nicki Minaj has paid tribute to Rihanna on her birthday.
RiRi turned 36 on Tuesday (February 20) and Nicki, who has collaborated with the Bajan singer on the songs “Fly” and “Raining Men,” didn’t let the day pass without honoring her.
On her Instagram Stories, Minaj wrote: “And now… for the baddest bitch on planet earth. Happy birthday to this phenomenal fucking woman. Caribbean girls run it bitch!!!!! Know that, hoe!!!!”
In a separate post, she included another picture of Rihanna and added: “Happy birthday to this beautiful billionaire from Barbados. How I smile when I know ain’t a bitch better & ain’t a bitch badder.”
See both posts below.
Nicki Minaj recently teased that Rihanna would be on a deluxe version of her Pink Friday 2 album, writing on Instagram: “The full gag city deluxe ain’t coming out until Queen Rih send her vocals. POW.”
However, no track has yet been released.
The Young Money hitmaker previously said she was over the moon when Rihanna announced she was pregnant with her first child in 2022.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, she said: “So happy for you mama. Conquered the world already. Given so much. Nothing left to prove. you deserve your own little gift now. Different level of joy that money can’t buy.”
In a recent interview with Andy Cohen, Nicki Minaj talked about her long-running admiration of the Savage X Fenty founder.
“There are two women that I have looked up to in the music industry since I have come in it in a different way, just because of who they are and where I’m from and who I am,” she said. “Of course, Bey and Rih.”
More recently, Nicki stirred controversy with comments referencing Rihanna’s 2009 assault at the hands of then-boyfriend Chris Brown.
While taking aim at her rap rival Megan Thee Stallion in an X Spaces conversation with Joe Budden, she compared Tory Lanez shooting the Houston rapper to Breezy’s infamous attack.
“Rihanna never would milk something like this,” Nicki said. “You could tell she couldn’t wait to get that part of her life — you could tell she couldn’t wait to just try to move on with her life.
“And then people even bashed her for not dragging it out, not milking it, and she was just like, ‘Yo, I was mad young. I just wanna move on with my life now, yo.’”
She added: “You know why? Because Rihanna knows that she was a superstar with or without controversy. She’s beautiful with or without controversy. She’s loved with or without controversy. I’m sorry — sympathy.”