Nicki Minaj was more than ready to put her Pinkprint on Saturday Night Live this week. In anticipation of her new album, Minaj joined The Interview actor and host James Franco for the Dec. 6 episode of SNL, performing "Bed of Lies," "Only," and "All Things Go" on the show and rolling out a few impressions of Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian along the way.
To kick off her two-song set on SNL, Minaj was joined by Skylar Grey for "Bed of Lies." Minaj donned a two-piece figure-hugging red outfit, complimented by Grey, who wore her own red suit jacket. Minaj and Grey kept it largely lowkey for their performance, with Grey accompanying on piano as Minaj largely stood still, pouring out her personal rhymes with a serious and concentrated look on her face.
But her joy was palatable - as soon as the song cut off, Minaj was all smiles, cutting a bit of the track's weight.
Minaj rolled out two new The Pinkprint cuts for her second performance, blending "Only" and "All Things Go" into a medley. Wearing a lace bodysuit and black bra and panties, Minaj got personal on the two tracks, showing a strong sense of flow all while addressing her personal business, in another successful performance.
Minaj wasn't just on hand to perform - she also exercised her acting shops in a handful of sketches. She kicked off her cameos by playing as Beyoncé in the "Hip-Hop Nativity" sketch. Alongside cast impressions of Rihanna, Kanye West, Riff Raff, Rick Ross and Eminem, Minaj played Bey as the Virgin Mary, making the birth not about her but about everyone else (though, inevitably, it's always about Beyoncé).
She also did a half-baked impression of Kim Kardashian on "Weekend Update," lampooning those oh-so-infamous Paper nude photos and made an appearance as herself in Pete Davidson's head. Even he cannot escape those first few lines from "Anaconda" (but only because he watched the music video so many times).
Nicki Minaj's new album The Pinkprint will be released on Dec. 15.
