Nicki Minaj has earned her first career No. 1 on one of Billboard’s most competitive rankings, and the Nicki Minaj Beauty and a Beat Global No 1 — for her 2012 collaboration with Justin Bieber — tops the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart in only its second week on the tally, according to Forbes’ November 4 chart report. The song climbs from No. 3 last week to No. 1 this week, more than a decade after its original release.
A Coachella revival, a chart revival
According to Forbes, “Beauty and a Beat” returned to the spotlight after Bieber performed it during his headlining sets at Coachella, sparking renewed consumption worldwide. The Global Excl. U.S. chart measures the most-consumed tracks around the planet excluding American sales and streams, which are counted separately on the Billboard Global 200 — where the song started at No. 4 last week. On the current frame, the song improves on all five Billboard rosters where it appears and establishes new peaks on three, including a new high of No. 5 on the Streaming Songs chart.
For Minaj, the milestone is specific and significant: a first No. 1 on the Global Excl. U.S. ranking, one of Billboard’s most competitive lists, achieved with a track music lovers have been consuming for well over a decade. It is not a new single’s triumph but a catalogue song’s second life — the kind of revival that streaming and a high-profile live performance can now produce years after release.
What a catalogue No. 1 proves
Catalogue revivals are no longer novelties; they are a structural feature of the streaming charts, where a single performance can reintroduce a song to a global audience overnight. “Beauty and a Beat” proves the point at the highest level: a 2012 pop collaboration, revived by a festival moment, topping a 2026 global chart. Whether it holds the summit next week will depend on whether the Coachella-driven streaming surge sustains or fades — but the first-place credit, for Minaj’s career record, is already permanent.
