Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday
- Written by Joe Bates
As big debuts go, Nicki Minaj's on Kanye West's 'Monster' is akin to the 16 year old Wayne Rooney scoring a injury-time scorcher to end Arsenal's 30 match unbeaten run in 2002. Her eye-popping verse sweeps aside every major league name on the track. Kanye? Jay Z? Bon Iver? All are left pale in comparison. Kanye must have known this, as she is given the honour of introducing the album itself. She is going to be heard by a lot of people and Pink Friday will be their first port of call if they like what they hear. Obviously there's no predicting the quality of her solo album based on a guest verse, but the type of schizoid energy she brought to it certainly boded well. The sort-of good news is that she certainly brings some of those qualities to the table here. The definite bad news is that it means the album is all over the place, and with Minaj projecting, or perhaps being pulled, in all manner of directions, overall it's a bit of a mess.
The opening 1-2 punch flatters to deceive. First we are treated to a decent bit of songcraft on the introductory 'I'm the Best'; an uplifting bit of radio-friendly pop that proves Minaj knows her way around a hook. Those who want the 'Monster' Nicki are quickly sated on the completely bugged-out second track, 'Roman's Revenge', featuring Eminem. The link between the two is obvious – the offensiveness, the wordplay and the multiple voices – and they both bring their own form of electricity to the track, although the excellent Swiss Beats production manages to out-crazy both of them. The third track, 'Did It On'Em' is also intriguing in its own way with Minaj going unexpected places in her rap. 'All these bitches is my sons' she begins, and then later 'You ain't my son, you my motherfucking stepson', as if both things are pretty bad things to be. Pretty surreal, it must be said. But, and this is the important part, it's also a terrible, terrible song.
And thus a pattern emerges. At least 'Did It On'Em' is terrible in a unique way. Not so many of the other tracks. 'Right Thru Me', and 'Fly' are both awful attempts at ballads, and Minaj is utterly anonymous on both of them. Will.i.am turns up later on in the album, and it goes without saying that it's a bad song – his contract must stipulate that those are the only type he will contribute to – but it's surprising just how much of a car-crash it is, obnoxious 'Video Killed The Radio Star' sample and all. The indications are that Minaj is so much of a chameleon that everything about a song can influence how good she herself is. The song featuring Kanye, 'Blazing', features a great beat, Kanye on top-form and – guess what – she's brilliant on it too, engaging and lightning fast. Drake's guest spot and a decent beat brings out another one of her better performances. And, on 'Your Love',as on 'I'm the Best', she shows she can manage a radio-friendly single, which is encouraging given how bland the other efforts are. Again, we can see that she adjusts to each beat perfectly – a floating, angelic beat brings out a great hook and a slightly-less corny verse than on the other ballads.
The album is not without merit and those particular tracks are definitely worth hearing. Minaj can be an excellent rapper, and when given the right material she nails it. But the major worrying thing is how inconsistent a performer she is, which makes the album a discouraging listen. 'Roman's Revenge' is nearly derailed by her Drake-aping habit of simply putting disconnected rhyming words at the end of a line: “Yeah I said it, has-been/hang it up. Flatscreen/haha, Plasma/'Hey Nicki, Hey Nicki'. Asthma”.This breaks up her flow which is her best attribute. On the sentimental songs, she can be positively cringe-worthy. 'When they looking, you let me hide/defend my honour, protect my pride/The good advice, I always hated/But looking back, it made me greater'. Travesties like that occur far too often, and that Natasha Bedingfield appears on the final track really won't be too surprising once you get beyond track 5.
She may seem like one of the more independently-minded artists we've seen recently, but Nicki Minaj is trying to be everything that everyone wants her to be, and the result is an extremely flawed album. Too often the beats and the songs hamper her style, her awkward adjustments to big, Rihanna style ballads and very mainstream rap beats doing her no favours. Hearing her at her best makes you sincerely hope that she can nail what exactly she is best at, because she still has the potential to be excellent. It's just a shame that before this, 'Monster' was the most exciting piece of Minaj that we had seen, and there's nothing on this record that challenges that fact.