I was really looking forward to this album. Having recently been re-bitten by the hip-hop bug (Kanye mixtapes, G.O.O.D downloads, KiD CuDi, Pharoahe Monch and Jean Grae), and I was hoping that Minaj’s album would continue that positive, ear-inspiring vibe.
It hasn’t. Pink Friday opens well, and then picks up a notch with Eminem ripping some wicked, very Slim Shady-esque rhymes and flow on Roman’s Revenge. The following Did It On’ em is also a very decent song before the album heads into the huge, vast and unmoving ocean of “run of the mill”. Tracks featuring Rhinna and Drake are awful, but not as awful as the ridiculous Check it Out featuring will.i.am. (They sample Video Killed the Radio Star on this, and it doesn’t work and sounds completely fucked).
Even Kanye’s steady hand on Blazin’ does little to improve the overall experience. Minaj’s raps on this track are more interesting, but the songs suffers from a pointless Simple Red sample which is just awkward.
At times, this album reminded me of early Missy Elliot albums, the one’s that were okay, before her and Timberland hit their creative peaks in 2002’s Under Construction (..”put my game down, flip it and reverse it”). Sure, Missy had time to develop her style etc blah blah blah, but the industry has changed since then (please refer to any previous articles you’ve read somewhere about My Space and mix tapes and being able to get your work out there even though you don’t have a label backing you blah blah blah).
Maybe my expectations were too high after hearing her OWN Kanye and Jay-Z on Monster. This is my fault really. But maybe she wanted to produce something that could be dubbed as mediocre? Because that’s what Minaj delivers. There are a few highs, but these are only highs because the lows are so low. Pink Friday actually finishes well, but by that stage I had stopped caring. In the end, this album is pussy. It’ safe. It is a safe, chart pleasing R&B album. But even worse than this, it is a boring chart pleasing R&B album.
No comments:
Post a Comment