will.i.am and Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj and will.i.am speed into the future in the video for “Check It Out,” the joint single off Nicki’s forthcoming album Pink Friday. Following the live debut of the track at this month’s MTV VMAs, the duo hit the set to pay homage to Japanese anime culture in the Thomas Kloss-directed clip, shot in Los Angeles this past weekend.

“You can expect to see a bunch of flyness as far as the outfits,” the Black Eyed Peas frontman told MTV News on set of the video. “When I say flyness, I’m talking about Nicki’s outfits. She’s looking super-duper fly and whatnot.”

Nicki chimed in to elaborate on the concept. “We’re doing almost like an ode to Japanese culture and Japanese anime,” she explained. “I’m obviously a big fan and I’ve joined forces with like the only boy that I know that’s also able to capture that culture.”

The pair also discussed working on the futuristic tune, which samples The Buggles’ classic ’80s hit “Video Killed the Radio Star.”

“I worked with tons of producers on my album, shout out to all of them,” said the Young Money rapper. “Will’s the only producer that produced me. He really sat there and got this weird sound, and I was like, ‘What?’ It was so simple. He was sitting there and he made the beat on the spot.”