(From left) Singer Ciara, professional circus artist Brianna Kalisch and TikToker Francesca Pagan doing the Nicki Minaj challenge. Photos: Ciara/Instagram, Brianna Kalisch/Instagram, Francesca Pagan/Instagram
If you have a few seconds, social media has a new exercise for you to try.
First, do a single-legged squat and cross the other leg over. Then try that in the highest pair of heels you can find.
Once you have that figured out, do the same pose, in those heels, on top of two cooking pots stacked on the kitchen counter – or on top of the monkey bars at a playground jungle gym or on top of a single soda can.
The pretzel-like pose is called the Nicki Minaj because – in what feels like ancient history by social media standards – the Trinidadian rapper and singer did it beside a swimming pool in the music video for her 2013 track High School.
A clip from that video has resurfaced on TikTok in the past week, seemingly at random, and has taken on a life of its own as users have tried to recreate the pose in increasingly precarious locations, while challenging one another to come up with more difficult versions.
The hashtag #nickiminajchallenge has been viewed more than 1.3 billion times.
And the challenge has drawn celebrity participants, such as American comedienne Christina Kirkman (balancing on a cooking pot and a can of soup) and American singer Ciara (balancing on a stack of dumbbells).
The pretzel-like pose is called the Nicki Minaj because the rapper did it for her 2013 music video 'High School'. Photo: YouTube screengrab
“The idea is, how could we make this tougher? How could we make this more tricky?” said Francesca Pagan, 27, who posted a video of herself doing the Nicki on top of three books, one cooking pot and an aluminium can while balancing a book on her head. “The riskier it is, the more amazed people are.”
It is also essential to look calm and collected while doing the pose. Having done gymnastics and cheerleading as a kid certainly helped, Pagan added.
“I’m not going to say I recommend everyone do it because that’s just in bad faith,” she said. “I think you have to have a certain level of confidence in your ability to balance.”
Some commenters questioned whether her version of the pose was real, Pagan said, because of its difficulty. So, she posted bloopers showing her losing her balance and the book falling off her head. She then posted a second video of the Nicki, in which she posed on top of even more stacked pots.
For some, the challenge has become a way to showcase their businesses or passions.
A video posted on Fenty Beauty’s account, for example, features a woman doing the Nicki on top of a stack of the cosmetic brand’s products in a Sephora store. Mothers shown perched atop a stack of toys, surrounded by their tumbling children, seem to project uncanny calmness amid the chaos of parenting.
Professional circus artist Brianna Kalisch received a message from her friend a few days ago. “He was like, ‘You should do this,’” she said.
Until participating in the challenge, TikTok videos of her bottle walking and balancing feats, which had once been flagged as “dangerous activities”, had not gained much traction on the platform, Kalisch said. But she thought she would give the Nicki a shot anyway.
She created a pyramid of 12 champagne bottles, climbed on top, and then assumed the pose. Her sister handed her another bottle that she placed on her head.
In two days, the video received more than two million views. “I actually tried juggling,” Kalisch said, “but my knees were in the way. It didn’t work.” – ©2025 The New York Times Company
