On the 15 of December, rapper Nicki Minaj released her highly anticipated The Pinkprint, worldwide. With Nicki’s first two albums containing almost polar opposite sounds to them (from hip-hop to dance pop), the rapper managed to convey a wide array of different sounds and feelings on this cohesive body of work. Minaj also managed to show a hugely different side of herself, with just the album opener, “All Things Go”, pertaining to the rapper’s damaged connections with different members of her family that she has been attempting to rekindle since she hit fame. The album is full of high profile features such as former “Bang Bang” collaborator Ariana Grande. Also included on the album is another former collaborator, this time on the famous “Flawless Remix”, Beyoncé. The two stars came together to create a track that did everything but scream smash hit. Other tracks such as “Only” feature label mates such as Drake and Lil Wayne.
The first single off the album, “Pills N’ Potions”, features a more pop sound with a hook sung by Minaj herself. While it only managed to find a niche audience and failed to provide the exposure a lead single is meant to provide, the second single, “Anaconda”, featured a viral video that skyrocketed the track to number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This became that artist’s biggest single to date, beating out her previous high point, “Super Bass”, which fought its way up to number three in the year of 2011. Follow up singles “Only” (urban single) and “Bed of Lies” (pop single) have already garnered critical acclaim, joining each and every single’s positive reviews from critics worldwide.
Overall, this definitely is one of my favorite albums of 2014. The cohesive 22 track work displays all sides of Nicki, sides revealed in ways never before on this heartfelt work. From Chris Brown to Skylar Grey, from hard rap to soulful ballads to straight up pop jams, you would be hard pressed to not find something you can enjoy on this diverse, solid album that manages to span all genres, serving all of her fans in one body of work. I would recommend any hip-hop enthusiast to pick up the album today!
