Review ‘Nicki Minaj’s – The Pinkprint’ From The Editor

  Nicki Minaj is lucky. Quite a few of her Cash Money labelmates have had issues getting their albums released, but go figure, Nicki’s The Pinkprint just dropped without a hitch, even though Cash Money has yet to release Lil Wayne’s much anticipated Carter V, which has led Wayne to contemplate leaving the label. Maybe it’s just Nicki’s time and she’s the new, hot artist moving the most units.

  For The Pinkprint, Nicki has held to the hip hop styles fashioned on her Re-Up album that differed from the overt, dance-pop flavors of that album’s original version, Roman Reloaded. Although the pop elements are subdued and Nicki’s rapping presence is more prominent on The Pinkprint, the album still has somewhat of a mainstream, commercial-hip hop feel to it, in all its effeminate poise and female gender-geared importance.

  Aside from the humility and the regret of family problems expressed on “All Things Go” and the womanly devotion to a man celebrated on “Favorite,” most of The Pinkprint lays out more of Nicki Minaj’s excessive braggadocio, sexual playfulness and lamentations of dating complications. In “Get On Your Knees,” she wants to be a woman with power, and in “Four Door Aventador,” she basks in the spoils of luxury without ever thinking twice.

  At the start of the poppy “Night Is Still Young” and in “Pills N Potions,” Nicki shows signs of wisdom and advice-sharing, but on the whole, The Pinkprint is a moving, ballad-filled confession of self for Nicki that will appeal to all of her diehard fans, pop rapconnoisseurs and some (not all) hardcore rap heads.

  The music behind the vocals straddles the fence between hip hop and pop but manages to treat both fan bases. Airy chords and simple synths top solid drums and bass on most of the tracks. The “Baby Got Back”-sampled “Anaconda” puts some excitable, girlish energy behind that classic by Sir Mix-A-Lot and works as a respectable ode to golden age hip hop by Minaj. On the last three songs of the album (“Pills N Potions,” “Bed Of Lies” and “Grand Piano”), the classic sounds of some gentle, slow-moving instruments greet the ears as do several of Nicki’s emotion-oozing singing parts.

  Nicki Minaj is sassy, waggish, witty and heartfelt with her steady rap flow that perfectly conveys her feelings, frustrations and urges. She has worked with several producers to bring together The Pinkprint‘s neo-electronic sound that still has a pretty firm foothold in hip hop music. Additionally, the guest singers and rappers make complementary additions that diversify the artistic range.

  Nicki seems to have found her niche and flaunts growth and development as an artist and vocalist here. If Pink Friday was Nicki declaring hip hop her specialty and Roman Reloaded was her experimenting heavily with pop music, then The Pinkprint is her finding a workable balance between the two and building upon it.

‘The Pinkprint‘ is available now on iTunes

What do you think of ‘The Pinkprint’? How do you feel about Nicki Minaj? Send your thoughts and comments below.