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"Ganja Burn"
"Ganja Burn" is a track that surfaced on Nicki Minaj's fourth studio album, Queen, released in the year 2018. This song, officially dropped on August 10, 2018, was a collaborative effort in its creation. The songwriting credits list Onika Maraj herself, alongside Jairus Mozee and Jeremy Reid. The production, handled by Reid, gave the song its distinct soundscape.
The track was recorded across several studios, each contributing to its final polish: Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California, Larrabee Sound Studios in North Hollywood, California, and the mastering was finalized at Chris Athens Masters in Austin, Texas.
Genre: Reggae fusion, hip hop Length: 4:54 Label: Young Money, Cash Money Songwriter: Onika Maraj Producer: Jeremy Reid
A visual component was also created for the song; the music video for "Ganja Burn" can be found on YouTube.
Background and Release
"Ganja Burn" emerged as a pivotal track on Nicki Minaj's fourth album, Queen, which was released in 2018. The song first appeared on August 10, 2018, as part of the album's full release across all major music platforms. Its inclusion was revealed earlier that day when Minaj unveiled the final tracklist for Queen.
To amplify its presence, Minaj featured "Ganja Burn" during her Beats 1 Queen Radio show, hosted by Zane Lowe. During this broadcast, she spoke of the song's profound emotional impact, admitting it brought her to tears and gave her chills, singling it out as one of her personal favorites from the album.
Interestingly, the song's title underwent a minor alteration. It was initially intended to be "Ganja Burn," but during the submission process for the tracklist, a typographical error resulted in "Burns." This was subsequently corrected on platforms like iTunes and Spotify. The title itself is a carefully constructed double entendre. Beyond the obvious allusion to the consumption of marijuana, it also symbolizes Nicki Minaj's process of purging negative influences from her life. This theme resonated so strongly that certain lyrics from "Ganja Burn" were incorporated into the official Queen merchandise, appearing on items such as clothing, ashtrays, lighters, and rolling papers.
Composition and Lyrics
"Ganja Burn" is characterized by its strong reggae influence, positioning it within the island-pop spectrum. The track employs a mid-tempo rhythm. The Atlantic described its sonic quality as evoking "a beach party ruined by a cold snap," a rather grim, yet evocative, assessment.
The creation process of the song was detailed by its recording engineer, Big Juice. He explained that a significant portion of the song, roughly 65% to 75%, was a freestyle effort by Minaj. She reportedly received the beat from producer J. Reid, listened to it, instructed him to load it into the system, and then immediately entered the vocal booth. Big Juice likened this spontaneous creative burst to the recording of "Chun-Li". He recalled Minaj experimenting with the phrase "Ganja burn, ganja burn, ganja burn," and upon hearing it back, declared it "hard!" He emphasized that the hook, as it appears in the final version, is still the freestyle she laid down in that initial session, seemingly conjured from nothing.
Lyrically, "Ganja Burn" sees Minaj employing intricate word play to solidify her standing within the music industry. Lines such as "You made one dope beat, now you Kanye? / You got a nigga named Jay, now you 'Yoncé? / You got about three stacks, now you André? / ... You gotta have real skill, gotta work for that" serve to challenge aspiring artists. Simultaneously, the song delivers a pointed message directed at other female rappers. The chorus, deceptively simple, features Minaj expressing a longing for an ex-lover: "Every time I get high, I just think about you," punctuated by the repeated phrase, "Ganja burn, ganja burn, ganja burn.” Post-release, Minaj expressed her own dissatisfaction with the hook's final mix, tweeting, "[I] realized that I hate how low I made the hook. Gotta get it swapped out. That's like my fave song & I can't let it go out like that😩. Plus I was so sleep deprived I wrote burns instead of burn when they were stressing me 4 tracklist."
Critical Reception
The critical reception for "Ganja Burn" was, shall we say, less than stellar. In The Hollywood Reporter, Jonny Coleman dismissed the track as an arbitrary inclusion on the album, stating, "[...] most of the sequencing seems arbitrary here, as if changes were being made up until the last minute and with little actual regard for flow." He went on to label it mere "[a] filler which could have easily hit the cutting room floor."
Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic also voiced his displeasure, particularly with the perceived disconnect between the verses and the chorus. He found the lyrical content to be jarringly disjointed, leaving him confused as to how the different sections were meant to coalesce.
However, not all reviews were so dismissive. Shamika Sanders of Billboard offered a more positive perspective, commending Minaj's adept use of wordplay. Sanders speculated that certain lines might be veiled references to Cardi B, a theory that gained traction among fans. Despite this speculation, the lyrics in question were not definitively attributed to any specific artist, and Minaj herself remained silent on the matter.
Music Video
The visual narrative for "Ganja Burn" was a collaborative effort between Nicki Minaj and the acclaimed Turkish-Welsh directing duo Mert and Marcus. These were the same artists responsible for directing Minaj's 2017 video for "Regret in Your Tears". The thematic elements of the music video were designed to complement the album's cover art, which was also a creation of Mert and Marcus.
An initial draft of the music video was unfortunately leaked online in early July 2018. The polished version, however, premiered later, on August 13, 2018. The video opens with title cards that lay out a narrative of betrayal against a "Queen," setting the stage for her eventual resurgence and triumph over her adversaries.
Visually, the video depicts Minaj as an ancient queen situated in a desert landscape. Her emergence from the ground symbolizes her rising above the negativity and setbacks she has faced. Later scenes feature a ring of fire encircling a group of individuals, while Nicki undergoes a transformation into regal attire. This imagery further reinforces the narrative of the Queen—representing Nicki—thriving and overcoming adversity after purging the toxic elements from her life. The video, in essence, is a visual allegory for resilience and self-empowerment.
Credits and Personnel
The following credits and personnel are adapted from the liner notes of the Queen album:
Recording
- Recorded at Glenwood Place Studios, Burbank, California
- Mixed at Larrabee Sound Studios, North Hollywood, California
- Mastered at Chris Athens Masters, Austin, Texas
Personnel
- Nicki Minaj – vocals
- J. Reid – production
- Aubry "Big Juice" Delaine – record engineering
- Labrinth – record engineering
- Laura Bates – record engineering assistance
- Iván Jiménez – record engineering assistance
- Brian Judd – record engineering assistance
- Nick Valentin – record engineering assistance
- Jaycen Joshua – mixing
- David Nakaji – mixing assistance
- Ben Milchev – mixing assistance
- Jairus Mozee – guitars
- Chris Athens – mastering
Charts
| Chart (2018) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100) | 47 |
| New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) | 13 |
| Scotland Singles (OCC) | 67 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 60 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) | 27 |