Quick Shot Review: Nicki Minaj "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded"

(Photo via sidewalkhustle.com)

This quick shot was not put together to show a picture of Minaj in her underwear covered in paint, but I'm sure that the dudes won't mind. She released her 2nd full length album this week and I decided to give it a spin. Here's the Coles Notes version of my review for "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded":

From the jump, the intro (which is also the chorus) for "Roman Holiday" is underwhelming and poorly executed. It really doesn't work. This is the same "Roman Holiday" that Minaj performed at the Grammy awards, which quickly crashed and burned upon liftoff. What kills me about Minaj is that this woman can spit some serious fire. When she's on her game, no female MC (and most male MC) can touch her. The first few tracks show flashes of her rhymexecution expertise, but the songs are so terribly put together that it wouldn't even matter if Biggie came back and dropped a verse. The female Weezy is truly showing that she's Lil Wayne's protege. I can only assume that he was involved in this project and it shows. No focus or consistency. My advice to any aspiring female MCs out there in the world: never listen to a guy who wears lime green patent leather Uggs.

(Photo via allwesteverything.com)

The second half of the album takes a deep dive into pop princess land. Minaj tries to channel her inner "Rihanna" without much success. This bizarre shift underlines that missing focus and I would have appreciated it more if she released it as a double album: rap vs pop. Since this wasn't the case, it comes across as a hot mess.

In my opinion, Ms. Minaj needs to reload her vision and work from her strengths. We've all heard her kill it as a guest MC on her features for other artists. All Nicki needs to do is bring that intensity to her own work.

-Paqman