They were simpler times.
Back in November 2014, about seven months before a certain real-estate mogul turned reality-TV star announced a presidential run that would upend our lives for the foreseeable future, Kim Kardashian appeared on the cover of Paper magazine.
Shot by celebrated French photographer Jean-Paul Goude, the cover image was a recreation of Goude’s “Champagne Incident,” with Mrs. Kardashian-West in a body-hugging black ballgown, a glass resting on her extended derriere, and a stream of bubbly from a popped Champagne bottle framing the cheeky proceedings. But the accompanying headline, “Break the Internet,” was better applied to its alt-cover: “Also shot by Goude, it features Kardashian with her back to the camera and her head turned around facing it. She’s lowering the same dress, revealing her shiny, ample, heavily Photoshopped behind—a play on her infamous Instagram belfie,” we wrote at the time.
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And break the internet it did, garnering the reality-TV entrepreneur plenty of ink.
Late Tuesday, Paper unveiled its latest “Break the Internet” cover. Shot by the great Ellen von Unwerth, who’s snapped the album covers to Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope and Rihanna’s Rated R, it features a trio of Nicki Minajs along with the headline: “Minaj à Trois: Break the Internet.”
There’s Nicki sitting on a chair covered in diamonds, with two circular diamond-encrusted pasties covering her bare breasts; another Nicki in S&M gear—black leather heels and leotard, her tongue extended toward the sitting one’s crotch area; and a third Nicki in a pink number standing over the regal one, her right hand resting over her exposed right breast.
“We have never called an issue Break the Internet since we did it back in 2014 with Kim Kardashian. It takes a certain type of talent, with an awesome fan base and the ability to put trust in Paper to work our magic. I have always loved all of the looks that Nicki has done (and she has done them all). Her style (typically anchored by her off-the-charts hair choices) matches her musical talent perfectly,” wrote Paper creative director Drew Elliott.
Nicki’s gotten Kim’s approval as well. When the rapper/pop star posted the image to her Instagram, Kardashian liked it and commented with three fire emojis.
The 16-page “Minaj à Trois” editorial will drop online on Wednesday, while the magazine’s full winter 2017 issue will hit newsstands Nov. 28.
