Nicki Minaj Performance ("Bang Bang" with Jessie J and Ariana Grande). "The Pinkprint" was officially released on December 15, 2014, and debuted at number two on the US "Billboard" 200, with first week sales of 244,000 overall units (198,000 in pure album sales and 46,000 combined album-equivalent units and streams). Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from critics. "Billboard" magazine's Niki McGloster called it "her best album to date". Sheldon Pearce of "The A.V. Club" thought that "The Pinkprint" is "the closest Nicki Minaj has ever gotten to balancing her tendencies". Randall Roberts from the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that
Only (Nicki Minaj song) a sappy tearjerker, sorry I’m not sorry." Neither Nicki Minaj nor Osborne responded to criticism that the video was released on the anniversary of the Kristallnacht. Nicki Minaj tweeted that Osborne was influenced by the "Metalocalypse" Dethklok music video for "The Gears" as well as "Sin City" when creating the music video. Brandon Small, creator of "Metalocalypse" responded to the comparison, stating that "They seem to be confused about art" before deconstructing the meaning behind both videos. He also added that he does not believe Nicki Minaj had poor intentions. The accompanying music video for "Only", which was directed by