Avril Lavigne has recruited Nicki Minaj for the power pop kiss-off “Dumb Blonde.” Lavigne’s sixth album, Head Above Water, will be released on February 15th.
On “Dumb Blonde,” Lavigne reflects on the idea that people might think she’s not as smart as she is based on the way she looks. “I’m a babe/I’m a boss/And I’m makin’ this money,” she sings on the pre-chorus. “I can flip like a switch and I cut like a blade.” When Minaj joins for her guest verse, she reinforces Lavigne’s empowerment while referencing her album, The Pinkprint, and the Remy Ma diss track, “No Frauds.”
Prior to the song’s release, Minaj revealed that she’s long been a huge fan of Lavigne’s music. “If you know me, you know how long I’ve been a fan of hers,” she wrote in the caption of the single’s art. “You couldn’t tell me I wasn’t hittin EVERY note on ‘I’m with you’ in the shower.”
Lavigne similarly wrote about her fandom of Minaj: “Nicki is such a talented, strong woman and driving force,” she shared on Instagram. “I listen to ‘Fly,’ ‘Starships’ and ‘Bed’ all the time. Having her on the song is so special to me.”
Head Above Water will be Lavigne’s first album in six years. In the time since dropping her last full-length LP, she Canadian singer-songwriter has been battling Lyme disease, a struggle that she sings about on this album’s title track.