In anticipation of #PinkFriday2 dropping this Friday the 8th of Decemeber, I’ve decided to write about my favorite rapper: Nicki Minaj.
Boy oh boy, where do I even begin with this one? First let me start off by saying that my adoration of Nicki Minaj wasn’t something that happened immediately. It was something that I grew into over time. I’m so ashamed to say that when the original “Pink Friday” came out, I definitely slept on it. My best friend and roommate Renee told me that it was a very good album and that I should definitely give it a listen.
I wish I’d listened to Renee sooner. It wasn’t until after college when I moved to New York City that I began to really get into her music. I can’t say that I found it as much as it found me. Sometimes things unfold in their own time and you really can’t rush God’s timing.
My friend and fellow writer Lester stayed at the top floor of a Bushwick loft that was absolutely incredible. In New York City, space is hard to come by. And every Friday when I was done with my internship, I’d catch the L train out to Bushwick and me and Lester would smoke blunt after blunt while listening to music. This was my introduction to Nicki Minaj.
“Nicki is my favorite rapper,” Lester would declare definitively while pushing an inhuman amount of smoke out of his lungs. I distinctly remember him playing “Did It On ‘Em” and my stoned brain went absolutely bananas. “WHAT IS THIS MUSIC???” I thought to myself as I’d feel the sound reverberating somewhere between my head, heart, and soul.
This was when my love affair began. I’d sit on the subway and listen to Nicki’s music while reading along to the lyrics. “Oh wow this woman is SMART,” I’d think to myself as the double and sometimes triple entendre would fly out her mouth with elegance and ease. This was the best part of the early listening experience: Nicki’s music is for intelligent listeners of hip-hop. An absolute aural pleasure. The pop culture references were next to none and outstandingly hilarious.
I’m a creative writing minor so looking at poetry and picking it apart is one of my favorite things to do in class. Let’s just say that Nicki’s songs leave a lot of meat on the bone for you to pick apart. There are metaphors, coded language, the sort of things you’d only pick up on if you’re really paying attention. This is what I love so much about Nicki’s work: it always has been — and always will be — intelligent.
This is just the music, it doesn’t even begin to cover the ground she broke for women in hip-hop culturally speaking. Thin waif bodies were all the rage. Thinness for the longest time was the only body type that could be considered attractive. Nicki came through with her Venusian goddess body, bursting onto the scene and thus made every girl want a fat booty! Not only did she come into the game and change music, but she also changed the standards of beauty.
I remember waiting until midnight to watch the “Anaconda” music video. It was such a statement of raw female sexuality! Men can use their force to get what they want, why can’t a woman use her sexuality? What’s wrong with using your feminine body to get what you want? Nothing. The only people that hate this are people who probably can’t do it themselves.
“The Pinkprint” is a very special album to me because it marked the first time I was officially a “Barb,” a moniker Nicki uses for her fans. This album helped me get through some really difficult times in my life. I remember crying like a baby when I heard “All Things Go” for the first time. That song is raw, vulnerable, and so incredibly special to me, I just knew the rest of the album was going to be beautiful. And that it was!
This album is special because it brought me and my little sister Hinemoa closer together. We had a fraught relationship. Oftentimes my parents would compare us in really unfair and degrading ways. This obviously could not have been easy for my little sister. As her big brother, I left pretty hefty shoes for her to fill. And not only this but we went to the same High School where I just know the teachers would’ve constantly been comparing us. Let’s just say this: much like Nicki I definitely know how to leave my mark wherever I go! Which is mostly a blessing but sometimes a curse.
Me and my little sister are two different people. I was constantly encouraging lil sis to find her own voice and to forge her own path. I told her that she didn’t have to do the swimming thing if it wasn’t her passion. It didn’t matter to me what she did so long as she did it with passion! It didn’t even have to be a sport, it could be music, or acting, or drawing. Whatever! I just wanted her to feel good about herself and to forge her own path separate from my own.
Of course when you’re a hormonal and moody teenager, it’s difficult to see this perspective. It’s much easier to resent. So of course this was how our relationship became incredibly frosty and fraught for a while.
When Nicki dropped “The Pinkprint,” it changed our familial dynamic. I’d drive lil sis around Auckland City with “The Pinkprint” playing from start to finish and we’d rap along to every lyric together. We’d roam the streets discussing and dissecting songs, stating which lyrics were our favorite. We truly bonded and healed our relationship through Nicki’s music. There’s layers to the love I have for this artist.
“Four Door Aventador” was my personal favorite. I also enjoyed “Favorite,” which is about wanting to be a person’s number one despite them being plenty of others. Oop! Art imitating life, let me tell you.
Lil sis’ favorite track was “The Night Is Still Young” and “Trini-Dem-Girls.” Our icy relationship defrosted and ever since then we have been incredibly close. Sharing a special bond over Nicki’s music.
Even in the subsequent time when I moved back to America, whenever a Nicki track or feature dropped, I’d call up lil sis and ask if she’d listened to it. We’d pick up right where we left off and talk about our favorite lyrics and best moments of the newly dropped song.
The “Queen” album roll-out was difficult to watch. Much in the same way that others would compare me and my little sister, our favorite rapper would find herself in a similar position: having others compare her talent to those that weren’t necessarily doing the same thing. Hello irony!
Nicki is a poet, lyricist, mogul, and you’d be really foolish to try and stamp out her flame. Nicki will be done with music when she’s done with music, not because these cornballs in the music industry have decided her time is up, but when she has decided it is time for her to be done. She’s a little bit like Cameron Diaz in this respect. I’ve always adored Cameron Diaz when she stood up for Nicki on a red carpet for a movie they did together.
The similarity of their positions in the music and entertainment industry is this: they’ll retire when they decide they’re done. This is incredibly unusual in a place like Hollywood, especially for women. Most musicians and actresses stop working because they stop getting deals and offers. Oftentimes they retire because they don’t have a choice. Nicki and Cameron are an anomaly to this: they’ll decide when they’re done and it isn’t up for other people to decide when their careers are over.
This is so powerful. Especially in an industry as misogynistic as Hollywood. And this is what “Queen” proved to us: Nicki is with us until she says she’s not. And wow, what an honor and a privilege for us to have lived through the Nicki Minaj era of music. All the 1800 words I’ve written here haven’t even taken into account the fight she waged for streaming numbers to count towards Billboard, which shifted the entire music industry BTW.
There is so much more to unpack, write, and to say but there isn’t nearly enough time. The music industry understands how impactful this woman is but like most Sagittarius, they never want to give us flowers because we’re cocky af. Honestly, when you live and walk in your truth, why aren’t you allowed to revel in it? Oh well! At least we like ourselves. Can’t say the same for the haters!
They’ll always downplay Nicki’s cultural impact and try to find ways to diminish her success but the proof is in the pudding: Nicki Minaj runs the music industry. Everything she creates and puts her name next to sells out quickly. Just look at the Pink Friday 2 perfume that sold out all over America. The December issue of Vogue for which she graces the cover (FINALLY!!!!) is difficult to find and at one point was selling for $100 a copy on Amazon.
Nicki’s a marketing expert and an entertainment powerhouse! We might never get to experience this type of genius ever again.
So, as you can imagine, I’m incredibly excited for the release of “Pink Friday 2” coming out this Friday, December 8th, which again you can pre-save here. I can’t wait to sit with lil sis and discuss which songs are our favorite and what lyrics make us giggle, and just soak up the gorgeousness that is the Nicki Minaj vibe!
If it is anything like her career has been so far, “Pink Friday 2” is going to be EPIC.