Nicki Minaj Thanks Barbz for Her First Top Female Rap Artist Win at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards

Nicki Minaj is thanking her Barbz after she took home the prize for top female rap artist at Sunday’s (Nov. 19) 2023 Billboard Music Awards.

“Thank you to the Billboard Music Awards for presenting me with the best female rap award of 2023,” Minaj said in her acceptance speech for Sunday’s show, which is announcing some early winners ahead of performances and more awards rolling out starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT via BBMAs.watch. “Barbz, you are amazing. I appreciate you so much.”

This is the first win for Minaj in the top female rap artist category, which was only introduced at the BBMAs back in 2018. We don’t know how many times Minaj might have been victorious if the category had been introduced earlier, but we do know she would have been a shoo-in for the prize in 2013, when she won the overall top rap artist award against Drake, Flo Rida, Pitbull and Psy. She was also named top streaming artist that year, and her Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded won top rap album.

With Sunday’s win, Minaj now has five Billboard Music Awards wins across her 27 times as a finalist.

In her acceptance video, Minaj looked ahead to her next big project. “I can’t wait to share Pink Friday 2 on my birthday, December 8th,” she said, signing off her message by blowing a kiss to the camera.

Minaj returns to the Pink Friday album series that launched her career with next month’s release, which she promised in a social media post in September would be “the best album that’s been released in years!!!”

Find out who else will win big at tonight’s 2023 Billboard Music Awards Presented by Marriott Bonvoy by tuning in to BBMAs.watch starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and staying tuned to BBMAs and Billboard social channels.