Back in 2010, the music world felt like it was vibrating on a completely different frequency. Digital downloads were king. Lady Gaga was wearing meat dresses. And a certain rapper from Jamaica, Queens, was about to flip the script on what a female MC could actually achieve in the mainstream. If you were there, you remember the neon colors and the frantic energy. You definitely remember the "Oh-a-oh" hook that seemed to follow you into every retail store and car ride for six months straight.
Check it out Nicki was the phrase on everyone's lips, referring to the high-octane collaboration between Nicki Minaj and will.i.am. It wasn't just a song. Honestly, it was a cultural flashpoint that signaled the arrival of a new kind of superstar. But looking back from 2026, the story of this track is a lot weirder and more calculated than most people realize.
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The Buggles Sample That Almost Didn't Work
Sampling a classic is always a gamble. You’re basically inviting people to compare your new stuff to a legend. In this case, will.i.am reached all the way back to 1979 to grab the DNA of "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. It was a cheeky choice. That song was famously the first video ever played on MTV in 1981, so using it to launch the career of the next great visual artist was a meta-move if I've ever seen one.
Nicki actually told MTV News back then that will.i.am made the beat right in front of her in about five minutes. Five minutes! Most producers spend weeks tweaking a snare drum. Will just "sat there and got this weird sound," as Nicki put it. It was simple, maybe even too simple for some critics, but it worked. Trevor Horn, the lead singer of The Buggles, was reportedly pretty happy about the whole thing because, well, the royalties were massive.
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Why the Music Video Caused a Stir
If the song was a lightning bolt, the video was the entire storm. Directed by Rich Lee, it was supposed to be an "ode to Japanese anime." Nicki was deep in her "Harajuku Barbie" persona at the time. She showed up in these wild, structural hats—teal, cream, mauve—and blonde wigs that looked like they were sculpted out of plastic.
But here’s where it gets kinda messy. Despite the "Japanese anime" claims, the video prominently featured Korean text. People noticed. Fans and critics started questioning if it was an intentional creative choice or just a massive oversight. Some theories suggest Korean characters were used because they took up less screen space. Others think it was just a generalized "futuristic" aesthetic that didn't care much for specific cultural boundaries.
The Chart Numbers and the Cheryl Cole Twist
Let's talk cold, hard facts for a second. The song didn't just exist in a vacuum; it performed.
- It debuted at No. 78 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Eventually, it climbed all the way to No. 24.
- By late 2013, it had moved over 780,000 digital units.
But the UK had a different experience. They got a "Special Mix" featuring British pop royalty Cheryl Cole. This version was a tactical move to dominate the European charts, and it worked—the song went Silver in the UK. It’s a classic example of how labels used to "localize" hits before streaming made everything global and instantaneous.
Is Check It Out Nicki Actually Good?
Music critics were... conflicted. Entertainment Weekly loved it, putting it at the top of their "Must List." They called it an "irresistible party-starter." Meanwhile, other writers felt the "Oh-a-oh" hook was enough to bore a hole in your head. It was polarizing. But that’s usually the sign of something that's actually doing something new.
The song appeared on Pink Friday, but it wasn't the main engine driving that album's success. Tracks like "Super Bass" and "Moment 4 Life" did the heavy lifting for the long-term legacy. Still, "Check It Out" provided the neon-soaked bridge from Nicki the mixtape rapper to Nicki the pop icon. It proved she could play in the same sandbox as the Black Eyed Peas and still keep her "savage" edge.
What This Song Taught the Industry
We often forget how much of a risk this was. Nicki was a "rapper’s rapper" from the Young Money camp. Jumping onto an electropop track with will.i.am could have alienated her core fanbase. Instead, it expanded it. It set the stage for the genre-blurring careers of artists like Doja Cat or Lil Nas X.
Actionable Takeaways for Music History Buffs
If you want to understand why this era of pop-rap mattered, do these things:
- Watch the VMA Pre-show Performance: It's a masterclass in early 2010s stage presence. Nicki’s energy is unmatched.
- Listen to the Original Buggles Track: Compare how will.i.am chopped the "Oh-a-oh" vs. how it's used in the 1979 original. He basically turned a melancholic synth-pop moment into a weaponized earworm.
- Check the Lyrics: Amidst the pop production, Nicki's verses are surprisingly aggressive. She’s literally telling haters to "kill yourself" over a beat that sounds like a Saturday morning cartoon. The contrast is the point.
The Pink Friday era wasn't just about the music; it was about the branding. Nicki Minaj didn't just release a song; she released a persona. "Check It Out" was the loudest, brightest part of that launch. It remains a fascinating artifact of a time when pop and hip-hop were finally, permanently, colliding.