Last month, rap phenomenon Nicki Minaj released her fifth studio album, titled Pink Friday 2, a stunning sequel to her hit 2010 album Pink Friday. As the title suggests, Pink Friday 2 heavily follows its predecessor, utilizing samples from popular music, featuring a variety of guest artists, and displaying Minaj’s snappy sense of humor through witty bars.
Simply put, Nicki Minaj is an icon of the 2010s. Her music appeals to little girls, and adults alike, and Nicki herself lives up to the role of being an idol. There is never a day when Nicki Minaj doesn’t have a trending audiobite on the popular social media platform TikTok.
Dubbed “The Queen of Rap”, Minaj has managed to stay relevant in popular culture since her first studio album, Pink Friday. This can be attributed to her unique position, being a strong, Trinidadian woman, existing in a male-dominated genre. Some could even consider Minaj a trailblazer in the field. Minaj capitalizes off of her differences, for example, calling herself a Barbie, a reference to her pink aesthetic. Not only does she have one larger-than-life personality, she has multiple. A key part of Nicki’s stardom is the use of her alter-egos; stage characters created to highlight a specific aspect of Nicki, or a sentiment expressed in her songs. Her most famous persona, the Harajuku Barbie, has become the namesake for Minaj’s fanbase, known as The Barbz.
Though social media reviews by Barbz, have mixed criticism on the album, there is no doubt that Pink is a success. Within its first 3 days on music platforms, the album had gotten 90.8 million streams. The album also reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top 200 list, being Minaj’s 3rd album to do so. This accolade made Minaj the female rapper with the No. 1 Album on the Billboard Top 200. On paper, the record seems to be very good.
The main flaws found with the tracklist are the repetitive nature of using samples, and not all good ones, at that. The opening track of the album, titled “Are You Gone Already“, starts with a lengthy sample, taken from alternative pop star Billie Eilish’s song, “When the Party’s Over“. The track is slow, and frankly, not compelling enough to convince a listener to hear the rest of the album. The song relies on its sad narrative, a heartbreaking song about the narrator living through the absence of her child’s father. Unfortunately, nothing about the beat, or the lines, is particularly inspiring or clever. Given that the first song of an album is a great place for first impressions, the creative choice to feature this song first is disappointing and does not work in the album’s favor. Compared to the first track played on Pink Friday, the song “I’m The Best“, is peppy, and upbeat, while still able to express the hardships and struggles Minaj has overcome in the lyrics.
The song “Pink Friday Girls“, also is a spinoff from a popular sample, using “Girls Just Want to Have Fun“, by Cyndi Lauper. In comparison to “Are You Gone Already“, the lyricism and usage of the sample are of much better quality. One of the most memorable parts of “Pink Friday Girls“ is when Minaj makes a reference to her hit song, “SuperBass“ within the lyrics. The line, “He got that super bass, make my heart skip a beat, I mean”, made longtime Barbs especially happy.
The most unique song on the album, which happens to be a personal favorite, “Needle“, is a collaboration between Minaj and Canadian rapper Drake. With an incredibly repetitive chorus and pounding rhythm, “Needle“ could be considered a hidden gem in this album’s tracklist. It’s a feel-good song that follows a guy feeling lucky to have found a girl, calling her a needle, when life’s a haystack.
Popular music media publications have not given this album great reviews, either, with Pitchfork Magazine giving the album a 6.5 on a scale out of 10. Publications and avid fans have identified the largest issue with the album; it tries too hard to be “Tik-Tok-able”, or in other words, it tries to have a small segment of the song blow up on social media. This doesn’t create an enjoyable listening experience, especially if the songs aren’t meant to be truly good. Though the album has some fantastically crafted songs, the talent is diluted by the forgettable songs made for social media.
