THE PHRASE “BREAK the internet” has become something of a cliché at this stage – but it was only three years ago that we were introduced to it thanks to Kim Kardashian’s infamous Paper Magazine cover.

Paper has gone on to print some famous and ~unique~ covers – like Miley Cyrus frolicking around with a pig in mud – but they haven’t used their trademark phrase since.

Until last night.

Yesterday, Paper’s Twitter account sent out a few mysterious tweets to build some expectation

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And at 9.15pm US time last night, Nicki Minaj revealed that she was the new cover star

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Three different versions of Minaj were shot by Ellen von Unwerth, and the magazine costs $10 to buy online.

Creative Director at Paper magazine Drew Elliott wrote about why they chose to reintroduce their most famous phrase for her:

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.

Break the Internet is all about the big idea, the word, the image. It came to me one day that ‘Minaj à trois’ had never been done. HOW? We have seen different versions of Nicki, from high fashion to seductive to in-your-face and eye-catching all at the same time. But we had never seen all of these together — and now we have the chance, thanks to our cover shoot with the rap star and Ellen von Unwerth. Welcome to Break the Internet.

Eagle-eyed social media watchers spotted that Kim Kardashian gave her approval on Instagram with some fire emojis

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People loved the “Minaj a trois” pun

And some are claiming it’s a better cover than its predecessor

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But… other fans were very underwhelmed

@B_NERD @B_NERD

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The main takeaway here? The internet is still working

Will it surpass Kim’s original in terms of moral outrage and buzz? Only time will tell.

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