--- title: Nicki Minaj Features on a New Song from K-Pop Superstars BTS description: The 'Queen' rapper lent her vocals to a new song from the K-pop group BTS, who just released their extended album 'Love Yourself: Answer' canonical: https://time.com/5377307/nicki-minaj-bts-idol/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-24T15:26:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:30.809Z og:title: Nicki Minaj and BTS Join Forces on a Hard-Charging New Song og:description: The 'Queen' rapper guest stars on the new BTS song "Idol" og:url: https://time.com/5377307/nicki-minaj-bts-idol/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nicki Minaj and BTS Join Forces on a Hard-Charging New Song twitter:description: The 'Queen' rapper guest stars on the new BTS song "Idol" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Nicki Minaj and K-Pop Superstars BTS Join Forces on a Hard-Charging New Song ## Video: K-Pop's Next Act [Watch (HLS stream): K-Pop's Next Act](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2ukAz9Fl.m3u8) (6:04)  _Published 2016-10-31. Riding off the success of Korean pop, artists CL, Dean and Eric Nam have their eyes set on the U.S. music industry_  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 24, 2018 3:26 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 24, 2018 3:26 PM UTC On their brand-new extended album _Love Yourself: Answer_, [K-pop superstars](http://time.com/5181183/j-hope-bts-hope-world-interview/) BTS tapped a familiar U.S. artist to pump up the energy of new track “Idol:” [Nicki Minaj](http://time.com/5369448/nicki-minaj-vmas-2018/). Minaj, the popular Queens rapper who just dropped her own album _Queen_ [earlier in the month](http://time.com/5364696/nicki-minaj-queen-album-review/), is the only other artist featured on the 26-track album other than DJ and producer [Steve Aoki](http://time.com/4563402/steve-aoki-dj-interview/), who previously worked with BTS on their hit song “MIC Drop.” _Love Yourself: Answer_ is technically a repackaged version of their album _Love Yourself: Tear_, with an additional seven new tracks, and marks a final chapter in their _Love Yourself_ series. Both a non-Minaj and a Minaj-featuring version of “Idol” appear on the project. “Idol” is a clubby, beat-heavy track that pulses with energy and a sax melody line off the top. The seven-member [K-pop group](http://time.com/5124176/best-k-pop-artists/) contribute to rapping and singing, partially in English and partially in Korean, across its four-plus hard-charging minutes. Minaj’s verse serves as a celebration and an introduction: “What’s good, Korea / You know I’ve been a boss for my whole career,” she reminds listeners. The release of _Love Yourself: Answer_ and this collaboration mark the beginning of BTS’s impending arrival on the U.S. scene. They’ve nabbed a number of titles and records over the years — including as _Billboard_‘s Top Social Artist, being named to TIME’s [Most Influential](http://time.com/4815217/most-influential-people-internet/item/bts-2/) on the Internet list and topping the [_Billboard_ 200](http://time.com/5292964/korean-boyband-bts-k-pop-billboard-200/) — BTS will be playing their [first official U.S. tour](https://www.ticketmaster.com/BTS-tickets/artist/2110227?irgwc=1&clickid=Vy7Vz5Wc4R-nU23z4hWUzVGHUkg0Er3KhSKkSo0&camefrom=CFC%5FBUYAT%5F1223901&impradid=1223901&REFERRAL%5FID=tmfeedbuyat1223901&wt.mc%5Fid=aff%5FBUYAT%5F1223901&utm%5Fsource=1223901-Pitchfork&impradname=Pitchfork&utm%5Fmedium=affiliate#artist%5Ftable%5Ffocus) starting in September in L.A. with dates at the Staples Center. Listen to the full IDOL by BTS song below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5377307/nicki-minaj-bts-idol/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5377307/nicki-minaj-bts-idol/"},"headline":"Nicki Minaj and K-Pop Superstars BTS Join Forces on a Hard-Charging New Song","datePublished":"2018-08-24T15:26:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:54:30.809Z","description":"\"What’s good, Korea?\"","url":"https://time.com/5377307/nicki-minaj-bts-idol/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Music","bts"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5377307/nicki-minaj-bts-idol/","name":"Nicki Minaj and K-Pop Superstars BTS Join Forces on a Hard-Charging New Song"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"K-Pop's Next Act","description":"Riding off the success of Korean pop, artists CL, Dean and Eric Nam have their eyes set on the U.S. music industry","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/2ukAz9Fl/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-10-31T13:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2ukAz9Fl.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5377307/nicki-minaj-bts-idol/","duration":"PT6M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5377307/nicki-minaj-bts-idol/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```