Nicki Minaj has finally announced that she's about to drop her fourth studio album 'Queen' this summer, just three and a half weeks after launching two new songs. She revealed the big news at the 2018 Met Gala and fans on the internet are tearfully joyful about the prospect.

Nicki Minaj at the MTV VMAsNicki Minaj at the MTV VMAs

The 35-year-old rapper turned heads in a red ombre Oscar de la Renta gown at the Costume Institute Gala last night (May 7th 2018), but it was news of her forthcoming album that got everyone talking. 

'It's a big night for me because I just let the world know that my album is coming', she told Billboard. 'It's called Queen, and I can't wait.' 

Nicki dropped the first two songs from the new release on April 12th; 'Barbie Tingz' is a track paying homage to her alter-ego Harajuku Barbie, while 'Chun-Li' sees her hit back at online haters who try to make her look like 'the bad guy'. In fact, the latter was used as the theme for her Met Gala look.

If her red carpet explanation was anything to go by, she boldly and rather controversially opted for a Satanic spin on the event's 'Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination' dress code. 'I'm the bad guy and I wanted to make sure the bad guy was here', she told Time. 

The new songs hit the top ten in the US R&B and Rap charts, which bodes well for the album. 'Queen' will follow Nicki's 2014 released 'The Pinkprint' which earned her a nomination for Best Rap Album at the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016. So far, no more information has been revealed about the new album, though we expect a whole host of producers are involved alongside Chevy Music and Jeremy Reid.

More: Watch the video for 'Barbie Tingz'

'Queen' will be released on June 15th 2018 through Young Money, Cash Money and Republic Records.