Behind the Boards is a new series where we spotlight some of the biggest producers in the industry and dig into some of their favorite projects. For this edition, we sit down with breakout producer, songwriter, and artist Malibu Babie about her work with Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion.
Malibu Babie is on cloud nine. A strong believer in manifestation, she just crossed off two of the top artists on her bucket list in the same week by producing separate hits for Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion. “Super Freaky Girl” became the second hip-hop song to debut at No. 1 by a solo female artist and earned Minaj her third chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100 in the process, while Megan’s house-influenced single “Her” entered at No. 62.
“I just feel so grateful and so blessed to get to be a part of not one but two literal rap queens’ careers,” Malibu Babie tells Consequence. “It just feels like a really big honor to get to have lead singles for two people that I’ve looked up to for so long.”
Adding that she “literally was speechless” after finding out both songs were coming out on the same day, the producer, songwriter, and artist says she doesn’t take the success for granted. “I definitely have the awareness that this is a very, very special once-in-a-blue-moon sort of occurrence,” Malibu Babie says. “It’s been pretty overwhelming in the best way.”
Never content to rest on her laurels, the rising hip-hop producer plans on keeping the momentum going. While “actively” continuing to make music for Minaj’s upcoming album, she is managing expectations with the practical attitude that “you can’t guarantee what you’ll make will end up on it.”
After several years of collaboration both as a producer and songwriter, Malibu Babie is also establishing herself as a solo artist by combining her experience in the world of Scandinavian pop with a love of hip-hop stemming from her background as a dancer dating back to the age of five.
“One day, it was like, is there a world where I can I just put them together and stop having to be a pop girl in this room and be the hip-hop beat Barbie in this room?” she explains. “That’s why Malibu Babie is so deeply, deeply special to me. I feel like it’s the first time musically where every facet of who I am comes together.”
And with that, Malibu Babie aims to share the confidence, joy, and “bad bitch energy” music has always given her. Her latest single, “GOODTIME,” encapsulates that mission with hard-hitting 808s and a rap-sung delivery encouraging listeners to find their bliss.
That’s not to say Malibu Babie is going to let up focus on the production front. Now that she’s worked with Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion, she hopes to land placements with Doja Cat, Saweetie, Latto, Britney Spears, Kim Petras, and more.
In the meantime, read our deep dive with Malibu Babie about the process behind Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Her” below.
