Musically, "Starships" is written in the key of D major and follows a moderate tempo of 125 beats per minute. Jocelyn Vena of MTV also said that "it's hard not to see Spears' influence on the rapper/singer when listening to the song." Billboard compared "Starships" to the work of Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez, other artists produced by RedOne. The background vocals on the chorus were considered extremely similar to Britney Spears' 2011 single " Till the World Ends" by Scott Schettler of Popcrush. During the final breakdown, a stadium football chant can be heard chanting the lead notes of the song. According to MTV, Starships has been described as showing Minaj's "pop side". "Starships" is a dance-pop and synth-pop song that features Minaj rapping in the first verse, after the song opens with an electric guitar. Problems playing this file? See media help. Composition Ī 21 second sample of the song's chorus. The song was mixed in only a day, and Muzzy went to Conway to see what minor adjustments Minaj wanted to do to the mix. We cut Nicki's vocals in a day, and I came back and we redid a few things, so you could say it was a two-day process." It gave her voice a unique character with a cool edge that wasn't there with the other chain. The 251 chain sounded amazing and worked really well with the 1176, which I don't typically use for cutting vocals. The other was a more traditional Neumann-Neve chain. I did not want to assume that how he was recording her wasn't working, so I asked him what he had set up, and he told me that there were two vocal signal chains, one being a Telefunken ELAM 251 going into a Chandler TG2 mic pre and then through an Urei 1176. "All Nicki's vocal tracking was done at Conway Studios in LA, where she had a lockout and was working with her engineer, Ariel Chobaz. Trevor Muzzy described the vocal recording process: Minaj's vocals were recorded at Conway Studios in Los Angeles. In 2011, a demo version of "Starships", sung by Mohombi, was given to Minaj who personalized the verses to make it sound "more her style", while keeping the chorus. Nicki Minaj co-wrote "Starships" with its producers Nadir "RedOne" Khayat, Carl Falk, and Rami Yacoub, with additional writing from Wayne Hector and Bilal "The Chef" Hajji. Minaj jokingly voiced regret over releasing the song. In September 2013, electronic artist Clive Tanaka filed suit against Minaj and the writers of the song, claiming it infringed on his own composition and recording "Neu Chicago", but the lawsuit was dismissed. The song has sparked controversy surrounding a pulled live performance. Minaj has performed the song live in a number of appearances, and it was the encore performance on the Pink Friday: Reloaded Tour. It is also one of the select few songs available on Just Dance 2014 's demo version. The song was included in the 2012 video game Dance Central 3 and it is included in the best-selling video game Just Dance 2014. The music video won Best Female Video at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. The music video was well received by music critics, many praising the kaleidoscopic effects in the video and the carefree atmosphere.
Directed by Anthony Mandler, the video features Minaj on a beach in a bikini, and near the end of the video, it shows her at a party, dancing to the song.
The corresponding music video was shot on Oahu Island, Hawaii. The song is among the best-selling singles of all time worldwide, with 7.2 million copies sold, as of December 2012.
as of 2014, and has been certified six-times platinum by the RIAA, becoming her second-highest certified solo single in the U.S. The song has sold 4.5 million digital downloads in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and spent a total of 21 consecutive weeks in the top ten and peaked at number five, breaking a chart record at the time. "Starships" peaked inside the top five in fifteen countries. The song was written by Minaj, Nadir Khayat, Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub, Bilal Hajji, and Wayne Hector, and it was produced by RedOne, Yacoub, and Falk. It was released on February 14, 2012, by Young Money, Cash Money, and Universal Republic as the lead single from the album.
"Starships" is a song by Trinidadian-American rapper and singer Nicki Minaj from her second studio album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012).