Nicki Minaj and Nas teamed up for “Sorry,” a track which pushed back her release date for Queen and didn’t make the album because, according to Minaj’s since-deleted tweets, Tracy Chapman had not approved a sample. “Sis said no ♀️,” she wrote, presumably about Chapman, in a tweet noticed by Pitchfork. She’d also tweeted, and then deleted, back in July:
So there’s a record on #Queen that features 1of the greatest rappers of all time. Had no clue it sampled the legend #TracyChapman – do I keep my date & lose the record? Or do I lose the record & keep my date? ♀️ do we push #Queen back 1week? Ugh! I’m torn, y’all help.
Rolling Stone reports that her fanbase pushed her to release it anyway, so here it is. The song doesn’t include Chapman’s voice, but Nicki singing a bit from “Baby Can I Hold You.” It’s softer than usual and far outshines the tedious and ill-advised collaborations with some soul, as she and Nas seem to sing a bittersweet goodbye to their relationship. Minaj sings Chapman’s lyrics “My baby can I hold you tonight?/And maybe if I told you the right words/ Ooh, at the right time.” Nas follows with “Flexing with your ex, I couldn’t disrespect ya” and “Untouchable boy with the illustrious girl/But maybe being together’s too much for the world, sorry.”