Ariana Grande VMAs Performance With Nicki Minaj Confirmed

Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj will team up this Sunday for a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, Billboard confirmed. The two divas will be performing “Side to Side” from Grande’s third album Dangerous Woman.

The Ariana Grande VMAs announcement was made by a video posted by the official Twitter of the Video Music Awards. In the video, narrated by Grande, the singer teases her upcoming performance and says that she’ll “share [her] voice like it’s never been heard before.”

Excited to announce that @ArianaGrande will take the 2016 #VMA stage with @NICKIMINAJ! Don't miss it 8/28. https://t.co/9GMA0dsXT6

— Video Music Awards (@vmas) August 25, 2016

This announcement follows the equally exciting news that Grande will be releasing the music video for “Side to Side” on Sunday as well. In an Instagram post of a GIF of herself from the video, Grande confirmed that the video will premiere on Vevo. The music video was directed by Hannah Lux Davis, who has previously worked with both Grande and Minaj multiple times. Davis directed the videos for Ariana’s singles “Into You” and “Focus” and for Nicki’s “The Night Is Still Young” and “Only.” She also directed the video for “Bang Bang,” which featured both Ariana and Nicki. If Davis’ previous work is anything to go by, fans can expect a music video with an over-saturated color palette, killer choreography, and plenty of outrageous costumes — good thing Nicki and Ariana are known for all three.

The Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande VMAs performance could shape up to be quite scandalous. “Side to Side,” a mid-tempo summery bop, features a verse from Minaj as well as some of Ariana’s more risque lyrics. “I know you got a bad reputation / Doesn’t matter, cause you give me temptation,” Grande sings during one of the verses. Minaj’s lyrics are even wilder: “I give zero f*cks and I got zero chill in me,” the rapper declares, before proclaiming, “I’m the queen of rap / Young Ariana run pop.”

Ariana Grande has a history of letting her hair down (so to speak — that ponytail isn’t going anywhere) at the VMAs. In 2014, the singer made headlines for her choice of red carpet attire: a bandage leather Moschino dress paired with her requisite thigh-high boots.

Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande also performed together during the 2014 VMAs. As the grand opening to the award show, Grande and Minaj teamed up with Jessie J to perform their hit summer song “Bang Bang.” The performance went smoothly, apart from a costume malfunction that left Nicki holding her dress closed to prevent flashing the audience. Minaj had previously performed her hit song “Anaconda” and hadn’t had enough time to switch costumes.

Prior to Ariana Grande’s VMAs performance this Sunday, the singer previously performed “Side to Side” at her VEVO Presents concert appearance. The fans in the crowd give an audibly excited response when the first notes of the song are heard. In her solo performance of the track, Grande shows off her rapping ability as well as her singing and dancing skills. The singer raps along to Nicki’s prerecorded verse and acts out some of the more dramatic lyrics.

Ariana Grande’s VMAs performance of “Side to Side” will hopefully drum up some publicity for the track, which is Ariana Grande’s fourth single from the Dangerous Woman era. The track is preceded by the much-maligned “Focus,” which didn’t even make it onto the album, as well as the title track and “Into You,” a pulsing club banger that reached moderate chart success. With the Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande VMAs performance coming the same day as the video, it’s clear the queen of rap and the princess of pop are here to take over the charts.

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]