Is it safe to do the Nicki Minaj challenge?
Netizens are trying increasingly difficult iterations of this position but run a risk of injury
Acrobatics have become trendy on TikTok with a new quad-activating exercise: balancing in a squatted position on one foot, crossing the legs, in high heels.
Known as the Nicki Minaj Challenge, the trend recalls the music video for the hit song “High School” by Nicki Minaj, one of the most recognized rappers of the twenty-first century. Just thirty-four seconds into the music video, Minaj strikes this gravity-defying pose by a swimming pool. Some of the top YouTube comments under the video were posted in the last week, with some users writing that Minaj’s songs are timeless, and others, mentioning the resurgence of this song in conjunction with the Nicki Minaj Challenge, subtly nodding to the long-lived reign of the “Queen of Rap.”
Over 125,000 posts have been made under the hashtag #nickiminajchallenge on TikTok, with the top videos presenting elaborate escalations in the difficulty of the Nicki Minaj pose: in one video, Alexandra Noyes, a stay-at-home-mom content creator, struck the pose while holding her children; in another, Dan and Ary, wedded content creators, posted a video where Ary strikes the Nicki Minaj pose on a tower of Jenga blocks. Other social media users have attempted the Nicki Minaj on dumbbells, textbooks in the operating room, and water bottles.
Some businesses with social media presence have caught onto the Nicki Minaj challenge to expand their audience reach and, in some instances, to show off their alignment with their youthful, energetic target audience. Jones Junction, a Maryland-based car dealership, posted a video where a man balances the pose on a car tire. Essence Cosmetics flashed their jelly grip hydrating primer, which only offers a couple inches in diameter of support, as the foundation on which a woman strikes the pose in another video.
So, the big question: is it safe to do the Nicki Minaj challenge? While the Nicki Minaj challenge has been shown successfully in a number of outlandish setups, one mom influencer, Mariana Vasiuc, shared a video of her falling from a kitchen countertop while attempting the Nicki Minaj pose just two months after giving birth, causing serious spinal injury. If you would prefer to strike the pose without risking injury, some users have even offered tutorials on faking the Nicki Minaj pose, with other users posting their fake versions of the poses, including those generated with the help of artificial intelligence.