Music lovers have been left stunned after a teased collaboration between Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj ended up as only a "sample," and the internet is in an uproar about it.
Minaj released her eagerly awaited fifth studio album, Pink Friday 2, on December 8, following on from her hit 2010 album Pink Friday.
The 22-track album features many known artists, such as Lourdiz, Drake, and Lil Wayne; however, chart-topper Eilish's involvement in the album excited many of her fans.
Pop Crave shared an image of Eilish next to Minaj on X, formerly Twitter, ahead of the album landing, with the caption: "Nicki Minaj confirms Billie Eilish is a featured artist on Pink Friday 2," and at the time this article was published, it had been viewed over 432,000 times and liked 15,000 times.
Enthusiastic fans quickly shared how they couldn't wait for the new song to land and how it would be on repeat.
Yet, fans discovered only a short 50-second sample of Eilish's song "when the party's over" on the album when it finally dropped.
The snippet opened Minaj's song "Are You Gone Already," and although very well received by many, there was a steadfast online faction that wanted more and a full collaboration between the artists.
Nicki Minaj confirms Billie Eilish is a featured artist on ‘Pink Friday 2.’ pic.twitter.com/LlMoS7ecaZ
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) December 8, 2023
On X before the album dropped, a fan said: "We will all be streaming this iconic collab," while another added: "I'm a huge fan of both artists, so this collaboration is going to be incredible."
Other remarks included: "This is a good collab" and "This very special."
Just a few hours later when the album launched, music fans heard the song and their comments changed.
Accompanying a gif of an angry lady, one social media user said: "Turns out it's just a Billie sample..."
Shocked, another added: "I thought there was gonna be an actual collab with Billie..."
"She really did only sample Billie I'm gonna riot... I WANTED A FEATURE," a listener chimed in.
"Tired of Nicki," "She did nothing creative with it. She used half of the song as it is" and "why'd she lie omg" were among other unimpressed remarks shared online.
Newsweek has contacted Nicki Minaj's manager and Billie Eilish's publicist via email for comment.
The artwork for the album and content shared across Minaj's social media in the lead-up to its launch shows the star in a series of pink ensembles.
Minaj's YouTube channel released her new songs, all featuring similar styled pink and purple videos. The video "Are You Gone Already" was viewed over 92,000 times within the first three hours of its release.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
