Nicki Minaj has taken the rap game by storm over the last few years.
People may not realize it, but Nicki’s career goes all the way back to 2006. Her career almost started under the G-Unit label when 50 Cent almost signed her.
Nicki has sure come a long way and may be the best female rapper in the game right now. Maybe of all time.
Coming into this album Nicki had a beef with a female rapper who was considered the best in the game back in the day – Lil Kim.
Nicki was out to prove on this album that she is still the best female rapper out there; the problem is she left us with a mixed bag.
Last year’s “Pink Friday” was the best female rap album to come out in years. The problem with “Pink Friday: Romans Reloaded” is that the album feels like it is loaded with too much material that doesn’t need to be there.
It feels exactly like 50 Cent’s sophomore album “The Massacre” except there is so much more filler material on this CD than “The Massacre” had.
The standout song on this CD is by far “Starships,” which peaked at No. 2 on the hot 100 and in the top 10 in many other countries.
The unique thing about this song is that it did not have a feature on it, which was nice to see because most singles today are overloaded with features.
Many true rap fans might not appreciate this song but it was the right choice for the lead single because of how catchy the beat and most of the song sounds.
The best song on this CD by far would be “Champion,” which features Nas, Drake and Young Jeezy.
That song really feels like a true rap song with a great hook and good verses by all the people involved.
Most of the people on the track made sense, but Nas really stood out as the guest feature because he has not really been seen with the Young Money crew.
There are points of this CD which are not as good. Among the songs that could have been completely scrapped would be “Stupid Hoe” (a diss directed at Lil Kim), and “Beez in the Trap” featuring 2 Chainz.
There are other songs on this CD that could have been scrapped too, but these all stand out. “Stupid Hoe” and “Beez in the Trap” are probably the worst Nicki songs I have ever heard.
I was excited to hear “Stupid Hoe” because it was a real beef and the two women don’t like each other.
Instead we got a track that did not feel like a diss track, and by Nicki doing this track it made Kim feel like the superior rapper. As for “Beez in the Trap” it’s just a bad song and Nicki is really trying to push it.
This is not a thing where Nicki does not recognize what good music is, but it’s more of her trying to switch her style.
This album did not feel like she was as much of a rapper as she was a pop star.
Something interesting about this album was it debuted at No. 1 in the U.S. again but this time her sales were down from her last album. This might be attributed to the CD leaking and people realizing that she has crossed over to a rap/pop style.
After saying all that, there are some bright spots on the album as well. The second half of the album is unique because there are no guest features.
“Young Forever” and “Fire Burns” are two songs that really make Nicki stand out on her own. While they’re not the best work she has done it really did stand out on this album.
Nicki has a lot of work to do coming up for her third album and lots of decisions to make as well. Is she a rap star or is she a pop star? Overall this album was a letdown but not something that would turn me away as a fan.
It will be interesting to see where she goes from here, but as for now “Pink Friday: Romans Reloaded” left you missing something you were craving from Nicki.
