--- title: Nicki Minaj Reveals Symbolism of 2018 Met Gala Look: Photos description: Nicki Minaj's 2018 Met Gala look has a special symbolic meaning that has to do with her new album dropping soon. canonical: https://time.com/5268800/nicki-minaj-met-gala-2018-dress-photos-new-album-release-date/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-08T01:23:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:52:42.558Z og:title: Here's the Meaning Behind Nicki Minaj's 2018 Met Gala Look og:description: She also reveals some major news about her new music og:url: https://time.com/5268800/nicki-minaj-met-gala-2018-dress-photos-new-album-release-date/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf945d61bd5c8f1aa/69892fbfcf40a8f5f9c4c24c/gettyimages-955774008.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's the Meaning Behind Nicki Minaj's 2018 Met Gala Look twitter:description: She also reveals some major news about her new music twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf945d61bd5c8f1aa/69892fbfcf40a8f5f9c4c24c/gettyimages-955774008.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Symbolic Meaning Behind Nicki Minaj's Red Hot 2018 Met Gala Look  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 8, 2018 1:23 AM UTC  Nicki Minaj attends the 2018 Met Gala on May 7, 2018\. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) Nicki Minaj attends the 2018 Met Gala on May 7, 2018\. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 8, 2018 1:23 AM UTC When [Nicki Minaj](http://time.com/collection-post/4298230/nicki-minaj-2016-time-100/) arrived at the 2018 Met Gala, she did much more than just reveal her stunning, bright red Oscar de la Renta gown — she also disclosed some very important details about her new music. The [Queens rapper](http://time.com/5238629/nicki-minaj-on-drake-meek-mill-feud/), who said that she was wearing Oscar de la Renta to the 2018 Met Gala because she wanted to represent her hometown of New York City, also shared that she was inspired to choose her sultry dress and bejeweled headpiece because she wanted to play the more sinful side of this year’s theme, [_Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination_](http://time.com/5263190/catholicism-and-fashion-moments/). “I’m the bad guy and I wanted to make sure the bad guy was here,” she said, obliquely referencing her latest song, “Chun-Li.” > [](https://twitter.com/DropNM4Nicki/status/993654240072667136) > [](https://twitter.com/blondebarbx/status/993654693686476800) Minaj also announced that her next album will be dropping on June 15 and will be called _Queen._ > [](https://twitter.com/musicnewsfact/status/993650335804780544) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5268800/nicki-minaj-met-gala-2018-dress-photos-new-album-release-date/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5268800/nicki-minaj-met-gala-2018-dress-photos-new-album-release-date/"},"headline":"The Symbolic Meaning Behind Nicki Minaj's Red Hot 2018 Met Gala Look","datePublished":"2018-05-08T01:23:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:52:42.558Z","description":"She also reveals some major news about her new music","url":"https://time.com/5268800/nicki-minaj-met-gala-2018-dress-photos-new-album-release-date/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Met Gala 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf945d61bd5c8f1aa/69892fbfcf40a8f5f9c4c24c/gettyimages-955774008.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf945d61bd5c8f1aa/69892fbfcf40a8f5f9c4c24c/gettyimages-955774008.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala - Arrivals","caption":"Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala - Arrivals","creditText":"Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"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/5268800/nicki-minaj-met-gala-2018-dress-photos-new-album-release-date/","name":"The Symbolic Meaning Behind Nicki Minaj's Red Hot 2018 Met Gala Look"}}]}] ```