Nicki Minaj reminisces about her “Anaconda” video reaching a billion YouTube views

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August 19 marks the seven-year anniversary of the release of Nicki Minaj‘s hyper-sexual “Anaconda” music video. 

The rapper took to Instagram on Wednesday to reminisce about the iconic video, which landed her a racy figurine at Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in Las Vegas and an MTV Award for Best Hip Hop Video in 2015.

“Seven years later. Who remembers witnessing the internet break when I dropped this picture?” Minaj wrote in the caption of her post. “[The] first solo female rap video to reach a billion views [and the] first one to break the VEVO record for most views in a day…Yes, ma’am, always inspiring the girlies.”

She continues about “Anaconda,” which samples Sir Mix-a-Lot‘s 1992 classic “Baby Got Back,” “[Shoutout] to Sir Mix-a-Lot. Love you guys for holding me down this long.”

“Anaconda” hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the explicit music video, filled with big butts and a cameo from her Young Money label mate Drake, racked up 19.6 million views on the day of its release in 2014. It broke Vevo’s record for having the most views within 24 hours. In April this year, Chart Data reported that the “Anaconda” video had surpassed one billion views on YouTube. 

It could be a coincidence that Nicki chose to reminisce about her monumental milestone just three days after Chart Data reported that Cardi B‘s “Bodak Yellow” video obtained a billion views faster than any other song made by a female rap artist. But others might say the shade is real.

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