Nicki Minaj appeared on Saturday Night Live last night to perform a single from her upcoming album, Queen – slated for June 15.

Chun-Li, a song inspired by the iconic video game character from Street Fighter, received some criticism online for ‘cultural appropriation’. Nicki Minaj and her dancer’s appeared in traditional Chinese get-ups to perform the track.

Others on Twitter defended Minaj, noting Chun-Li’s ‘transcendent nature’ as well as Minaj’s own experience as an Indo-Trinidadian woman.

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So I do not read @NICKIMINAJ‘s portrayal of Chun-Li as “appropriation” but as an embrace of a strong female character, both transcendent of race, but also as a nod to the long cultural connections between the African American & Asian communities. /end.

— mieke eoyang (@MiekeEoyang) May 20, 2018

Take a look at the SNL performance below then get around Live Nation‘s new fund for women in the live music business. 

Cover Image: Instagram | @nickiminaj