Nicki Minaj has delighted her Barbz by enlisting Canadian actor and singer Alexander Ludwig to play Ken in the official video for her hit “Super Freaky Girl.”
"You were amazing. So cool," Minaj tweeted at Ludwig, who replied: "Any time Nicki! You stunned."
The 30-year-old Vancouver native – familiar for his role as Cato in The Hunger Games and Bjorn Lothbrok in the TV series Vikings – released his debut country album Highway 99 last month. About making the "Super Freaky Girl" video, Ludwig tweeted: "What a trip, what a blast."
Predictably, the video is packed with pink and is as provocative as the track’s lyrics.
Minaj, 39, broke a record Lauryn Hill held since 1998 last month when she became the first female artist to have a solo hip hop track debut at No. 1 in the U.S. Minaj is also the first solo female artist to have a song debut at No. 1 this year.
The song samples the 1981 Rick James track “Super Freak,” which spent 24 weeks on the Hot 100 but never made it higher than No. 16. (MC Hammer’s 1990 hit “U Can’t Touch This,” which also samples “Super Freak,” peaked at No. 8 on the chart.)
On Sunday, Minaj accepted the Vanguard Award at the MTV VMAs after performing a mash-up of some of her hits.
Check out the video for "Super Freaky Girl" below: