The mixtape received favorable reviews from music critics, and is also largely credited with establishing Minaj's fan base.
[6] The video is shots of Nicki performing the song live at a club concert and behind the scenes of the Beam Me Up Scotty photo shoot.
[11] MTV's Mixtape Daily chose Beam Me Up Scotty as its weekly pick on May 4, 2009, giving the album positive reviews: "Yeah, you are going to hear a bunch of more-than-just-friendly shout-outs to the ladies – Nicki says she loves the girls and has no problem surrounding herself with "bad bitches."
Dark skin thick girl rapping about explicit issues we only talk about behind closed doors – yeah, I'd say she was a carbon copy.
"[13] Writing for MSN Music in 2011, critic Robert Christgau identified Beam Me Up Scotty as the release that convinced "hards" that Minaj "was street enough", noting her "highly unsisterly, rabidly materialistic" persona on the mixtape.
In a 2021 review of the mixtape's reissue, The Daily Californian writer Kelly Nguyen noted that back in 2009 when the tape was first released, "Minaj's rise as ruler of rap was sensational" and that her "clear talent was matched with her copious charisma—all wrapped up in the bait-and-switch of her personas".
[17] She added that the "nostalgia of Minaj's throwback mixtape is the reason why the album's release reignited Barbz and TikTok youth to stream it".
[17] She went on to say that beginning from this album, Minaj went "full throttle into a vertiginous verse that's built to make you feel like a Barbie-level boss.
But then she's casual and carefree [...] It's how she's stayed relevant since the age of Justin Bieber prepuberty bowl cuts and Kanye's MTV VMA coup d’état.
"[17] Complex writer Trace William Cowen also noted that "fans and industry watchers alike have pointed to the unique circumstances surrounding" the album's number two debut, "commending Minaj for bagging such a strong opening week with a project that's effectively (new cuts aside) a little over 12 years old".
[18] In an analysis of the reissue, PopMatters writer Ana Clara Ribeiro stated that "Minaj might not have been a pioneer of women in rap" but it also does not "make sense anymore to describe her as a 'female rapper' when she is one of the best alive and a serious candidate to best of all time".
The number of women signed to major labels reportedly went from more than 40 to just three between the late eighties and 2010; after her arrival, Minaj became a singular figure in music for almost a decade".
[1] The opening track of the reissue, "Seeing Green" with Drake and Lil Wayne debuted at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and ranked as the week's best-selling song in pure sales.
[24] On May 11, 2021 after a three-month hiatus from social media, Minaj shared a series of pictures on Instagram teasing the release of music on Friday, May 14th.