Album Review: Nicki Minaj's 'Pink Friday' has a personality disorder
Do Kanye West, Eminem, Rihanna or will.i.am ground this live wire?
Nicki Minaj
Credit: ap
You could do a lot with Nicki Minaj. She looks like a million bucks, does well with the press, guests with Mariah Carey to all the boys in her Young Money crew, can hold a tune, do a couple dance moves, hold it down solo and -- most importantly – set fire to a rap verse. She seems pretty bright and funny as hell. She can do everything. That doesn’t mean she should try to do it all on one album.
Whether it was by Universal or by the 25-year-old performer’s own hand, her debut “Pink Friday” bows to what a major label commercial urban album should sound like.
But for either, it’s fairly new territory. A female rapper hadn’t topped the hip-hop songs chart in almost a decade, and here comes Nicki with her Crayola colored hair and a back pocket full of ferocious mixtapes. Lady MCs like Foxy, Kim and Missy have been laying in wait to see what would come of their trailblazing, even if it wasn’t born of -- or as a response to – gansta rap or strictly East Coast/West Coast style.
And she came in swinging. And apparently singing?
“Pink Friday” has some songs aimed directly at the top 40, and some that would have her banned. “Check It Out” (regrettably) features will.i.am, la-la-“Last Chance” has Natasha Bedingfield and grounded “Fly” boasts Rihanna; those pop-oriented jams are buttressed by Minaj literally threatening to piss on or sh*t on her haters, “kick them hos” and for the naysayers to just “kill yourself.”
She intends to romance with the line “You see right through me / how do you do that sh*t?”, from “Right Thru Me,” but something tells me it won’t end up in the next Nicholas Sparks novel. Minaj does her best with R&B/hip-hop straddling like this, dulling her razor sharp to the point of honest perspective as opposed to the generic hip-hop braggadocio.
But still, it’s jarring, moving between the fluff and the fight, particularly when she lays it down like a true pro on “Roman’s Revenge” and “Just Blazin’” (featuring Kanye West and a Simple Minds sample). On the former, she insists she’s a hip-hop star who just happens to be a “she” and not some cosmic mistake that allowed a girl into the boys’ club. “I’m not Jasmine / I am Aladdin” she says, referencing a Disney film right before she rips you a new assh*le. “That bitch is mad cause I took the spot? / Well, bitch if you ain’t shittin’ then get off the pot” she rawr-rawrs “like a Dungeon Dragon,” quoting Busta Rhymes from A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario.” Then Eminem steps up for an f-you to sluts because why else would you have Eminem on an album. The pair boast their wares over a nasty snare and drone beat, a perfect fit for Em who could’ve used more of these on “Recovery.”
On opener “I’m the Best,” she skips the subtlety and goes straight to the talking points. “I’m the best b*tch doin’ it… all the girls will applaud / all the girls will come in / as long they understand / that I’m fightin’ for the girls / that never thought they could win… I’m here to reverse / the curse they live in.” Throughout the set, sShe takes a feminist stance while appropriating derogatory vocab, slipping in “b*tch,” “slut,” “cunt” and even “nappy headed hos” for her own use.
It’s not particularly eloquent, to be sure. But the way she delivers – whether delicately as Harajuku Barbie, in that crap cockney accent, the Islands raga or best as the crazy-eyed, hardnosed Queens native -- is like shooting a little thrill up your spine right after she blows you a kiss or calms her feathers for “Moment 4 Life” or “Save Me.”
It’s fine to have range, but having multiple personalities doesn’t mean you can’t have one at all. “Your Love,” the breakout single that sizzled in cars all summer, is an example of pushing for a commercial sound while still retaining those clever, slick idiosyncrasies, but on this set (and on its original mixtape) it proved to be an exception, not the rule. Minaj should just devote her tracks to rapping her ass off – she doesn’t keep those nails long just because they look good.
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November 22, 2010 at 10:14PM EST Reply to CommentThis chick is garbage. The album is horrible. She has the nerve to disrespect Queen Bee. I give her 2yrs and it's a wrap for her. Just to fake for me.
November 22, 2010 at 10:38PM ESTSugadll Nickis been on my ipod since 08.... if u think shes new then obviously u dont know present day rap. Further evidenced since you called Lil Kims washed up nightclub touring azz the "Queen B"... thats true only if the B stands for broke
November 22, 2010 at 10:53PM ESTDamon @ Sugadll Lmaoooo Dayum. But I liked Nicki ever since she came out back in '07 I think and love her even more. I really don't know but its some about Kim that really disgusts me.
November 22, 2010 at 11:07PM ESTDiamond I'm glad I sampled it on rhapsody before running out to buy it. Nicki got skills but she got way to much going on in this album for you to even place it in a category. It's def not hip hop, pop, idk its more like an experiment! I love rap and a true fan of hip hop and go hard for real female mc's... so to Sugdall and Luis if this is what you call the best then your generation has no hope sorry pink friday is a plunker(Nicki's london voice)!! > If peter piper pecked em, I betcha biggie bust em
November 22, 2010 at 11:33PM ESTHe probably tried to fuck him, I told him not to trust him
Lyrically, I dust em, off like Pledge
Hit hard like sledge-hammers, bitch with that platinum grammer
I am a diamond cluster hustler
Queen bitch, supreme bitch
Kill a nigga for my nigga by any means bitch
Murder scene bitch
Clean bitch, disease free bitch
Check it, I write a rhyme, melt in your mouth like M&M's
And you said Queen B stood for what??!!? I think you need to listen spell check or better yet find a dictionary and look up the meaning of hip hop/r&b>>rap I must be talking to white people!!! smh
Coorii I agree that she sucks! Nicki was dissing Kim in 08 too on those mixtapes as well as other females rappers so she started that crap! Kim is not broke ever! It's sad that Nicki is considered the standard for females in hip-hop, she ain't doing nothing new or innovative, rather you like it or not she ripped off Kim but didn't come as hard as she did, bottom line. Kim wasn't hating until she peeped game on what she was saying and now it's evident that she sucks cause Kim killed her in two sentences on her diss track! She will not last because she is a product not talent and once people lift their standards instead of accepting garbage as viable music than the better off the industry will be. Guess what genre of music is #1: COUNTRY! The creativity is lacking so bad in urban music that the majority would rather listen to Taylor Swift! Now isn't that crazy???
November 26, 2010 at 3:39AM ESTDiamond
November 28, 2010 at 3:21AM ESTAgree!!! All I got to say is,then anyone enjoy Black Friday??!!??
Dizzle
November 22, 2010 at 10:30PM EST Reply to CommentSMH....Not a classic album....Lil Kim is coming for that ass.... ; )
Damon
November 22, 2010 at 10:53PM EST Reply to CommentWait wait fix 8, which bxtch you know made a million off a mixtape?! :)
Coorii She couldn't do it without the hype and the fact that she is aiming for a younger demographic, her popularity is highest among impressionable girls not the likes of established adults who can clearly recognize game. She is a recycled Kim, her lyrics are not worth two nickels, and she only does well when accompanied by another artist. This is just my opinion, a true fan of hip hop and this chick is far from that. Sorry she just sucks...
November 26, 2010 at 3:44AM EST
November 23, 2010 at 6:15PM EST Reply to CommentI like the album...it's very diversed. However,this album is missing Anika (Nicki) Miraj. You can hear a little bit of her on the Blazin track. I'm not sure if we'll ever see Nicki again, I believe she's dead hence, track 11...If you understood Nicki you would understand her music. How many of us can say that we can be whoever we want, when we want? She reveals her different personalities through her music and in my option all of them are dope but none are better than Anika (Nicki) Miraj!
Beezy
November 23, 2010 at 6:22PM EST Reply to CommentI dont think she that tight. She can spit sometimes though. Monster on Kanyes album for example. But Rah Digga would snatch this chicks cookies in a battle.
Kryss
November 28, 2010 at 2:15AM EST Reply to CommentI know I'm going to get flamed for this but(my opinion) I think Nicki+all the hype has been over rated. I heard the album. It feels like she needs to find her own identity and stop trying to be some of everybody else, I think other people are pulling her strings to get her to do stuff. And some of the tracks, she just seems special-ed. For the die hard fans, you probably dont care but as a general review, I'll say the album is no good.
Diamond Nothing against Nicky, but yes the album is not poppin!
November 28, 2010 at 3:24AM ESTDiamond
November 28, 2010 at 3:30AM EST Reply to CommentWait did she just say that??!!??...
"I’m turning Pink Friday to Friday the 13th
Aight you Lil Kim clone clown
all this buffoonery, the shit stops now
time for you to lay down, I’m sick of the fraud
I put hands on this bitch like a spa massage
we all know your last name is what got you a job
you use to put together gimmicks something like a collage
since you putting on a show, you gon’ get the appaulse"
Black Friday's are the best!!!
jclem yo you are on point with everything Nicki has nothing on Kim they say Nicki is the hottest out but aint nobody out right now so I guess you are Number 1 when you the only 1
November 30, 2010 at 2:47AM ESThanniebaybee
April 12, 2011 at 6:09AM EST Reply to CommentQueenBee, please. More like DragQueen. Nicki will always be better than Kim. Plain & simple. ;]
Syringe
April 14, 2011 at 1:53AM EST Reply to CommentIcant stanf kim. She doesnt do a single thing for years, not giving her fans a new song or original song. But now that nicki is in the spotligh, kim wants to come and get it back. And i do have to say that pink friday wasnt as great as i hoped, but her mixtapes are some of the best ive heard in general. Maybe her next album will showcase her real talent.