Can you sing Starships by Nicki Minaj?

The researched range runs A3 to D5, a 17 semitone span, but it splits cleanly in two: rapped verses that live low on rhythm and attitude, and a sung hook that vaults to the top. The deciding moment is the hook's opening lift, an immediate jump into the high zone at an energy score of 90 with no gradual staircase to warm you up.

Mezzos fit everything, with the bottom landing exactly on their floor, and the page calls them the natural match. Altos also fit, with the D5 peak sitting exactly on their ceiling, so their hook needs a light, forward touch rather than a grab. Sopranos are 3 semitones short at the bottom, thin for the rap sections; a 3 semitone lift fixes the verses, and their top absorbs it easily. Tenors face 5 over the ceiling, making a 5 semitone drop the honest setting. No verified key is stored on this Nicki Minaj entry, so choose your key for the hook and let the rapped verses flex, since speech pitch bends far more forgivingly than melody does.

Practice cue: drill the transition bar, the last rapped line into the first sung note, ten times in a row. The whole performance is won or lost in that single seam.

Written from this song's researched range on file, A3 to D5 (17 semitones). July 2026.