Pink Friday

Nicki Minaj’s promising debut

The twenty-five year old Onika Tanya Maraj better known as rapper, singer and songwriter Nicki Minaj is Missy Elliott, Lady Gaga and Beyonce all in one. She has inherited the ability to rap developing her recognizable trademark style, and the interest to unusual videos from the first one; the second wears wigs as Nicki and the third has recently announced the appearance of her alter ego. It is probably the last feature which has the most impact on Nicki Minaj’s creative work to the greatest extent for she has been creating alternative personalities since childhood. Her parents would quarrel a lot, once her father even tried to kill her mother setting the house on fire, so the girl searched for shelter in her fantasies which have become an inseparable part of her life. Besides Nicki Minaj Onika has invented some more characters in various times: Harajuku Barbie, Roman Zolansky, Nicki Teresa – with each of them having something to do with her creative work. The artist early learned to write short rap verses, she recorded her first mixtapes two years ago. This year her promising debut album Pink Friday is finally released, with the singles which have already become incredibly successful.

A great rapping and memorable choruses on Pink Friday

As a vocalist Nicki Minaj can hardly surprise with anything but her vocal skills are good enough to provide a song with a melodious memorable chorus. The main of her weapons is the great rapping that helps her express the entire emotional spectrum, be tough or soft, serious or funny. One can make sure on the very first track I'm The Best, a proud composition characteristic of any rap album. Nicki and Eminem’s collaboration, Roman's Revenge is the ground where to alter egos meet, Roman Zolansky and Slim Shady. It is one of the brightest moments on the record with a great number of allusions in the lyrics, a fantastic beat and inimitable modulations of Minaj’s voice. The single Right Thru Me showcases the singer’s utterly different side – it is her view on relationship, in which she can be vulnerable, need support and understanding. The slow ballad Fly is refined with Rihanna’s vocals, so, this is already the second of the two singers’ collaborations after Raining Men from Rihanna’s album Loud. The track Moment 4 Life featuring Drake conquers with a memorable chorus, while the joint single with will.i.am, Check It Out, built on the sample of The Buggles’ song Video Killed The Radio Star is one of the most stylish numbers on the record. Kanye West joins Nicki on Blazin with a contagious chorus, and one can hear both a worthy vocal part on chorus and great rap verses on Dear Old Nicki. Anoher single Your Love again reminds of the singer’s fantasies, this time connected with Japanese culture, and the base of the song is the sample of Annie Lennox’ hit No More I Love You’s. The danceable number Last Chance is a collaboration with Natasha Bedingfield on which the latter rather plays the part of a backing vocalist, and another single Massive Attack featuring Sean Garrett is the heaviest number on the record, boasting an arrangement overloaded with sound effects. The album closes with the remix of Hello Good Morning performed by Nicki and Rick Ross, a great danceable finale for this stylish record.

The career’s beginning and an example for the others

The first album means really a lot for Nicki Minaj for it does not only serve as the beginning of her music career but also sets an example for other female rappers. According to the artist, each of them deserves attention, and the success of Pink Friday will prove that there is place for girls in the rough men’s world which the rap industry mostly is. No doubt Nicki could just exploit her natural attractiveness for a bigger hype – her ancestors are from India and Trinidad and Tobago, and the singer’s appearance is really noticeable. Yet, she believes that sex appeal only is not enough to achieve something in life and she has tried to find a balance between beauty and sexual images in her videos. On the whole, Pink Friday is the work of a high quality, with the great production provided by Swizz Beats and will.i.am among others, with several tunes which are quite successful. And Nicki Minaj’s trademark rapping will surely become even better and we can expect more new surprises from this original performer.