Nicki Minaj Gets Her Own Barbie

After all of the colored wigs, ‘Barbie’ chains, creating a nation of ‘Barbz’ and ‘Ken’s', and the tons of free publicity that Nicki Minaj has provided Mattel with over the past two years, the company has finally developed a partnership with the first lady of Young Money to create her own doll.



Nicki Minaj has added the creator of the Barbie brand to her list of business collaborators that include Mac and O.P.I. Starting next Wednesday, a one-of-a-kind Nicki Minaj Barbie created by Mattel will be auctioned off on CharityBuzz.com starting at a bid of $1,000 until Dec. 19. All proceeds will go to Project Angel Food, which provided meals for men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.




The Grammy-nominated rap dragon will join Janet Jackson and Rachel Zoe as celebs who have been made into official Barbies auctioned for this charity. Today, a spokesperson for Barbie released a statement on why the collaboration makes sense:

“Barbie is obviously a pop culture icon. She’s been in the spotlight for over 50 years, and strikes that chord with girls of all ages in terms of being representative of the times. And Nicki is a big part of pop culture and also huge within the fashion industry, as well as a big Barbie fan. It’s really exciting for us that she’s been so generous to allow us to create this one-of-a-kind doll to support such an important cause.”Nice. Nicki’s young fans are about to be putting in over time at their after school gigs to save up for that grand. Steep.

This is obviously huge for Nicki Minaj, who is also in discussions for a fragrance deal as well as collaborations with different apparel brands. Although Mattel hasn’t revealed whether they will develop a long-term partnership with Nicki, if her success with MAC is any indication, the deal would be lucrative for both parties. MAC initially planned to create 2500 of the ‘Pink Friday’ limited edition lipstick but had to up the number to 30,000 to meet demand. The deal was so successful that they replaced Lady Gaga with Nicki Minaj for their 2012 Viva Glam Campaign.
According to a spokesperson for the MAC brand:

This was before she really broke through to the general public online, but through her communication, to her Barbz, she really made an impact. She was the most well-loved online success the company has ever had.”