Pink Friday is the debut studio album by hip hop recording artist Nicki Minaj. It was released on November 19, 2010 in standard and deluxe editions through Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Motown. The intended lead single from the album, "Massive Attack", was commercially unsuccessful, and was therefore removed from Pink Friday. The album was preceded by the singles "Your Love" and "Right Thru Me" which were released in June and September 2010, respectively. "Your Love" reached number 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart, while "Right Thru Me" peaked at number 2. In addition, a previously released joint single between American rapper will.i.am and Minaj, "Check It Out", appears on the album. A third single, "Moment 4 Life", features Canadian rapper Drake and was released in December 2010. It topped the Hot Rap Songs chart in the US.

"Roman's Revenge", which originally featured rapper Eminem, was remixed to feature Minaj's labelmate Lil Wayne, and was released as a promotional single on January 19, 2011. After being released as Pink Friday's fourth single, "Did It On'em" received very positive reviews from critics, and peaked at number 4 on the US Rap Songs chart. "Girls Fall Like Dominoes" was released as a single in Australia and the U.K., as the sixth single overall. It samples "Dominos" by British indie rock band The Big Pink. On May 13, 2011, "Super Bass", a bonus track from the deluxe version of Pink Friday, was released as a single. It is one of Minaj's most successful singles, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The seventh single from the album, "Fly", features Barbados singer Rihanna, and was released on August 30, 2011. It has since peaked at number 19 on the Hot 100.

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), known by her stage name Nicki Minaj ( /mɪˈnɑːʒ/), is a Trinidadian-born American rapper and singer-songwriter. She was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and when she was 5 years of age she moved to the New York City borough of Queens, where she grew up.

After releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009 and being signed to Young Money Entertainment in August 2009, Minaj released her debut album, Pink Friday, in November 2010. It quickly became a commercial success, peaking at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release. She became the first female solo artist to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. Her second single, "Your Love", reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002. She also became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List. Minaj was named the 2011 Rising Star by Billboard. Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was released on April 3, 2012.

Kanye Omari West ( /ˈkɑːnjeɪ/; born June 8, 1977) is an American musician, film director and fashion designer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synthpop, and classical music.

West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. West released a collaborative album, Watch the Throne with Jay-Z in 2011, which is the duo's first collaborative album. His five solo albums, all of which have gone platinum, have received numerous awards and critical acclaim. As of 2012, West has won a total of eighteen Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all-time. All albums have been very commercially successful, with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy becoming his fourth consecutive No. 1 album in the U.S. upon release. West has had 5 songs exceed 3 million in digital sales as of July 2011, with "Gold Digger" selling 3,086,000, "Stronger" selling 4,402,000, "Heartless" selling 3,742,000, "E.T." selling over 4,000,000 and "Love Lockdown" selling over 3,000,000 placing him third in overall digital sales of the past decade. He has sold over 30 million digital songs in the United States making him one of the best-selling digital artists of all-time.