Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

On the evening of February 12 a large portion of the US and those willing in other countries witnessed something, at the 54th Grammy Awards, that could be described in a number of ways. Caterwauling, certainly. Provacative, sure. Good, debatable. Minaj's exorcism routine and mini-film polarised critics between the bewildered and the appalled, and threw up all sorts of concerns for the potential of her upcoming second record. Combine this with an already intense backlash against the single and music video for Stupid Hoe and you'd be forgiven for believing that Onika Maraj had well and truly lost it.

The use of multiple personalities and aliases in pop isn't an entirely new phenomenon: David Bowie had the Thin White Duke and Ziggy Stardust, Prince had Camille, Beyoncé had Sasha Fierce... but the use of alter egos in pop today seems to be employed in order to put aside two different stories. Whether this is in lieu of one interesting one or not, there's something interesting (and, at times, daft) about Minaj's clashing identities. There could be all sorts of sociological and psychoanalogical explanations, and I dare say a great deal of time is spent elaborating on them in order for attention, but the whole thing smacks of gimmicks. Plus there's the fact that Nicki's 'Martha Zolanski' character has a fucking awful British accent.



Still, without the pop she'd fall into obscurity, right? If the 'Roman' projects and tracks are anything to go by, certainly. Opener 'Roman Holiday', performed at the Grammy Awards (seen above), is a schizophrenic mess that's nothing particularly new from Minaj, but here the chorus' hook is given to Martha - begging her unruly son to "take the medication" in the year's most unpleasant vocal yet. The music varies between enticing jungle verses and hymnal bridges and choruses, and whilst there are fun elements (Minaj's take on O Come All Ye Faithful) it's just a complete mess. Earsplitting hooks continue into the wasp's nest of 'Come on a Cone' and monotonous military regimes on 'I Am Your Leader' and serious doubts about this album kick in - but fear not, 'Beez in the Trap', although with a pretty shit music video, is devastatingly simple and effective in putting across her appeal.

'HOV Lane' too relies on a less-is-more beat and tune, shining focus on her verses - which at times are a little bit perplexing ("I travel more than you walking with a basketball") - which are predominantly brags and lists of achievements. Formula 1 sound effects and a catchy chorus thrown in, it's a sign of things to come. Sadly, not just yet, because the Lil Wayne-featuring 'Roman Reloaded' arrives, all gun-holstering and distant alarms, with a frustratingly dull rhythm and beat. Some of hip hop's real finest appear, though, on 'Champion' - Nas and Young Jeezy both deliver, and the beat is reminiscent of 1990s confidence. 'Right by my Side' pulls off the double coup of being a soaring R&B song in a swath of 2012 shite, and making me appreciate something featuring Chris Brown. Slightly reminiscent of Keri Hilson's Knock You Down, it's a sweet tune. Even Lil Wayne's return ("I get that pussy wetter than a dirty sewer") can't ruin the similarly decent 'Sex in the Lounge', although giving the chorus and second verse to Bobby V makes her presence questionable.

And so the tide changes to pop with the album's standout single 'Starships', a bonafide RedOne masterpiece that rises and descends between about 8 different, but equally excellent hooks - the climax being "higher than a motherfucker". Summery goodness continues on 'Pound the Alarm', and at this moment in time may I pause and make a point that her fastest flows and delivery often appear on her poppier songs? Can we bury that complaint now? Inevitable alarms blast the song into moments of silliness but it's an innocently catchy track. So, too, is 'Whip It', with a shrill, off-key bridge that's oddly alluring. Some of the pop tracks verge on predictability, though - 'Automatic' sounds like a recent Jennifer Lopez castoff; 'Beautiful Sinner' never really begins let alone goes anywhere and her attempt at a ballad (although synths are thrown in for coolness' sake), 'Marilyn Monroe', unfortunately triggers a massive unreleased rant from me about THAT Marilyn Monroe quote that hundreds and thousands of teenage girls use in order to justify how massively fucking awful people they are.

Thankfully, 'Young Forever' is much less offensive. A twee melody throughout and a relatively nice vocal performance from Minaj give it the album's 'nicest' moment. 'Fire Burns' too does cute in the unusual method only Minaj can get away with ("I was a stupid motherfucker for letting you by"), but by 'Gun Shot' you're almost begging the nursery rhyme tunes to go away. Like the winding down of a house party, it's noone's favourite moment. And thus a massive attention-commanding closer is necessary: step forward 'Stupid Hoe'. I can totally understand why almost the entire population of the world would hate this. But for some strange reason, I don't. It's so audacious and ridiculous that it's almost unbelievable in how she's managed to get it released. With an epileptic fit-inducing music video and ass-clenchingly frenetic tune, Minaj laughs "Hey yo Baby Bop, fuck you and your EP - who's gassing this hoe? BP?" to fuel further L'il Kim rumours and cement Nicki's position as rap's current most vicious critic.



Normally I have a prerequisite to ignore deluxe editions of pop albums, given their tendency to feature 3 new songs at most, 1 of which was a feature on another album, the other 2 being weak as fuck. This is not the case here. Well, the 3 new songs, 1 of which is a feature part is true - David Guetta's 'Turn Me On' gets a placing here because that was successful and therefore 'good' (or something, since there can't be any artistic merit in including it) - but 'Va Va Voom' and 'Masquerade' (genuinely just mistyped that as Masterpiece), both Dr. Luke productions, are fantastic pop songs. On the first she's able to poke fun at herself - "Boom boom pow, this thing's so bingo/ Wondering if he can understand my lingo" - and the chorus is as solid as any of Rihanna's recent hits. 'Masquerade', though, is a far superior succession of notes and verses culminating in the album's best chorus.

If you have the patience to endure the opening duds, this can be an extremely rewarding pop album. I know some seem to take issue with the genre label, and hip hop snobs in particular deem it as an insult, but that's what it is, and in general it's a far better genre. Stay mad.

Rating: 7.5/10

Highlights: Starships, Masquerade, Va Va Voom, Young Forever, HOV Lane, Right By My Side
Avoid: Roman Holiday, Come on a Cone, Beautiful Sinner, Roman Reloaded, Marilyn Monroe

Artwork Watch: It's like someone took Ke$ha paintballing and decided to rape her instead. And then pelted her with paint. But without the pleasant aftertaste.