Videos by According2HipHop
Nicki Minaj is full of surprises lately. In her latest double-take moment, the rap star made a surprise appearance on the livestream from Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship Launch on Thursday (May 21).
Nicki Minaj Makes Surprise Appearance at SpaceX Launch
During her appearance, the Starships creator paid homage to the Tesla Founder.
“Major shoutout to Elon! Elon, thank you for everything you are doing for humanity,” she said during her appearance, as caught by FeelTheBass86 on X.
Minaj also reposted the clip of her appearance to her page with a quiet emoji. Musk also reposted the clip on his page, welcoming her to the starship launch.
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) May 21, 2026
Of course, Minaj’s appearance led to an outpouring of reactions from fans on social media.
“This is the kind of crossover that makes space feel mainstream in a way few industries can,” one user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“One ‘Roman Holiday’ scream and the whole launch tower would start vibrating,” a second user chimed in.
“Nicki showing up at Starbase is wild. Love her energy hyping Starship tho,” a third user remarked.
Musk & Minaj Share Ties to Trump
Musk previously served as a Special Government Employee and senior adviser to President Trump on government efficiency, after his second election. And with Nicki Minaj’s recent alignment with the Trump administration, it’s a collaboration that many should have seen coming.
Minaj’s alignment with the Trump administration has led to a lot of backlash from the hip-hop community. But she doesn’t appear to be bothered by it one bit.
During a sit-down with Erika Kirk at the Turning Point USA conference back in December, Minaj suggested the people who are critical of her are really “disgruntled” themselves. And as far as the backlash is concerned, Minaj said that her haters can “stay mad.”
“The other people, they’re the ones who are still just disgruntled. So really, they’re just disgruntled with themselves. They are angry with themselves, you guys,” she said. “So you can’t wake up and think about somebody who is determined to just stay mad. I literally tell them, ‘Stay mad.’ ‘Cause we’re going to stay joyful and peaceful and iconic and smart. And we’re going to stay thinkers in a world that doesn’t want us to think. We will think. By ourselves, on our own. We will continue to think.”
