More than 2 and a half years since the release of her 2nd studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, Nicki Minaj is back with The Pinkprint. It’s fair to say that Nicki had a lot of pressure on her hands after she went totally left-field with the sound of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. While there were a decent amount of Hip-Hop tracks on the album, lets be honest, the Pop and EDM-influenced tracks overshadowed the Hip-Hop. In turn, this lead to disapproval from those who were wanting Nicki Minaj to stick to her Hip-Hop roots. It went as far as Nicki pulling out of her headlining performance slot at Hot 97’s “Summer Jam,” because of Peter Rosenberg’s infamous comments.
Fast-forward to 2014, there was no short of Nicki Minaj on your radio. It appears she took a page out of her own book and was on everyone’s song, very similar to 2010, before the release of her first album, Pink Friday. From hit singles with Jessie J & Beyonce, along with releasing buzz tracks like “Chi-Raq” and “Yasss Bish,” we knew Nicki Minaj was about to release a new album.
I thought about giving The Pinkprint an overall review but due to waiting over 2 and half years along with the controversy of the sound of her last album, I decided it was worth it to give this album a track-by-track review and see what Ms. Minaj has cooked up for us. Let’s get to business.
1. All Things Go
The opening track shows Nicki being the most vulnerable we’ve seen her yet. Over the Boi-1da production we hear Nicki rapping about the various topics such as family issues, the death of her cousin, and even a mention of an unborn child. “All Things Go” displays a side of Nicki Minaj that we’ve rarely seen in her material and serves a strong foundation to kick off the album.
2. I Lied
Picking up from where “All Things Go” left off, we see Nicki singing and rapping over the mellow production about a relationship. We can assume this mystery person is, Safaree Samuels (SB), who also served as Nicki’s hype-man. Nicki vividly mentions how she lied due to perhaps not fully trusting her partner in the relationship. Once again, “I Lied” serves as another super honest track from Ms. Minaj.
3. The Crying Game
A personal favorite, this is where we hear Nicki’s flow picks up along with the slight inclusion of clever lyrics that Nicki is known for: “Here we go again, it’s the game we love, sheets all over the floor, and they laced with drugs”. If you were wondering whose voice it is on the chorus, along with Minaj, Jessie Ware lends her vocals to song which gives it an eerie but impactful feel. “The Crying Game” wraps up a solid introduction to the album which reveals heartbreak, distrust, and pain.
4. Get On Your Knees (featuring Ariana Grande)
If you thought Nicki was taking a stab at Gospel music, you were wrong. “Get On Your Knees” is Nicki Lewinsky at her best. The song sees Nicki instructing her man to beg for it. We can all infer what “it” is. Leave it to Nicki to bring out a side of Ariana Grande that we haven’t seen before. It’s also nice to mention that this track was co-written by Pop sensation, Katy Perry.
5. Feeling Myself (featuring Beyonce)
Nicki trash-talking? Check. Nicki showing her versatility and experimenting with different flows? Check. “Feeling Myself” is self-explanatory and we hear Nicki stirring the pot and boasting as any confident rapper should. Fresh off the success of the “Flawless (Remix)”, Nicki taps Beyonce who had no problem letting us know that she stopped the world when she dropped her latest back in December of last year. Sorry, Kim Kardashian. The chemistry is there between these two ladies and it’s without a doubt that this will be a future single at some point of The Pinkprint era.
6. Only (featuring Drake, Lil Wayne, & Chris Brown)
Next up we have, “Only.” Here we see 3 Young Money MC’s piggy-backing off each other’s verses along with Drake and Lil Wayne letting us know that they haven’t slept with Nicki but they sure wouldn’t mind it. Serving as the 3rd single from the album, it’s just what you’d expect from a track with these 4 individuals. Sitting at #10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Billboard Chart, it seems that the public is loving the Chris Brown assisted, Young Money track.
7. Want Some More
The flame emoji is the most appropriate here. Another personal favorite, with Jeremiah on the hook, Nicki runs down her list of accomplishments that makes you remember just how much she’s accomplished during her career. More importantly, at least for me, Nicki is talking reckless with not 1 care in the world. Honestly, this song encourages me. It makes me feel like I can rap, when in all honesty, Vanilla Ice is probably better than me. It makes me want to fight! It’s everything that a fan of Mixtape Nicki would love. It’s definitely one of the highlights of the album.
8. Four Door Aventador
If you were hungry for more Mixtape Nicki, she’s apparent here on “Four Door Aventador.” There’s no denying the Notorious B.I.G’s influence on this song as Nicki’s flow is very similar. It works for her, though, and the 90s vibe is much welcomed. This is definitely a track you can blast with your windows down come Spring and Summer time. Good job, Nicki.
9. Favorite (featuring Jeremih)
With Jeremiah’s 2nd appearance, we have Nicki instructing a guy of what she wants from him and what he can expect from her, in all aspects. It serves as a nice album track and potential single latter down the line as Jeremih is enjoying a resurgence of popularity.
10. Buy A Heart (featuring Meek Mill)
Serving as 1 of 2 Meek Mill features on the album, Nicki and Meek team up on the love-themed track. Not only is this song different from what we hear from Meek, this is the point of the album where the sound starts to drift into a more lighter, and dare I say it, Pop feeling. The track also samples Alicia Key’s “Unthinkable” and definitely accompanies the album’s overall relationship theme.
11. Trini Dem Girls (featuring Lunchmoney Lewis)
What’s a Nicki Minaj album without her diving into those Trinidadian roots? “Trini Dem Girls” is an ode to dancehall and the islands while blending a Pop feeling to the record. It’s definitely not the strongest track on the album but it a nice addition for fans of Nicki Minaj’s dancehall and West-Indian influenced music.
12. Anaconda
Is there anything left to say about “Anaconda”? Whether you hate it or love it, for the past few months, the song was unescapable. The Sir Mix-A-Lot sampled track was a viral sensation and peaked at number #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Anaconda” isn’t Nicki’s lyrical best, by far, and I’m sure it’s not even meant to take serious. For The Pinkprint, it’s definitely the most “fun” song on the album.
13. The Night Is Still Young
Lets get this out the way, if you’re not a fan of Pop music, this isn’t the song for you. Very reminiscent of “Starships,” “The Night Is Still Young” is definitely the most Pop you’ll get on this album. That’s ok as the album isn’t filled with a bunch of tracks similar to this sound. It’s only fair that Nicki appealed to the new fans of her Pop music that she acquired with Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.
14. Pills N Potions
Serving as the lead-single from The Pinkprint, “Pills N Potions” not only takes a stab at her own romantic relationship with but overall relationships with people in her life. This would also be a fair time to mention that “Pills N Potions” was one of a good amount of pill references on the album. Perhaps, pills or other things were coping mechanisms for what sounds like a series of damaged and lost relationships in here life. Once again, we revisit an honesty that you can’t help but to appreciate, where fan or not, male or female.
15. Bed Of Lies (featuring Skylar Grey)
Serving as a dual 3rd single with “Only.” The piano-assisted track is as straight forward as it gets. We find Nicki Minaj spitting about almost everything that went wrong in the relationship that seems to have influenced a good portion of the album. Skylar’s vocals is a nice additional touch and adds another aspect of rawness to the track.
16. Grand Piano
Closing out the album, we have “Grand Piano,” the one and only ballad on the album where we hear Nicki Minaj singing throughout the whole track. On this track, we hear Nicki trying to come to grips with the end of a relationship as she feels that her heart is being played with. This isn’t a side of Nicki Minaj that most of us are use to. A very solid effort was put forward and if anything, it shows that Nicki refuses to be boxed in as a one-dimensional artist.
17. Big Daddy (featuring Meek Mill)
Now, this is more like it. Serving as a polar opposite to the first Meek Mill collaboration on the album, “Big Daddy” is as hard-hitting as you would expect from a Meek and Nicki track. Mixtape Nicki makes another appearance and holds nothing back as she remind us and perhaps a certain female rapper that she’s still on top and won’t be leaving any time soon.
18. Shanghai
Remember when that flame emoji from “Want Some More”? Remember when I said that it made me want to fight? Apply those same sentiments to “Shanghai” but multiplied by three, for me. Initially I was disappointed by not seeing “Chi-Raq” on the track-list, but this is easily Chi-Raq’s older and much more polished sibling. You can easily hear the Chinese influence within the production. This song is easily my favorite track from the album. I could talk about this all day.
19. Win Again
I’d bet my last dollar that Nicki went into “Win Again” thinking that she needed to give her completion, mainly other female rappers, a reminder as to why some feel that she’s the best female rapper to ever do it. There’s no short of shots-fired in this track and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know who she’s speaking of in this track. “Yeah, I know that they’re mad”, she sings. Yes Nicki, they’re definitely mad.
20. Truffle Butter (featuring Drake & Lil Wayne) (iTunes Exclusive)
If this sounds familiar, that’s because this was a leaked Drake track that featured Tyga. It even features Drake original verse. In my brain, this is what I expected “Only” to be. Simply put, I love the track. The production reminds me of Drake’s “The Motto” and once again we see the trio playing off each other’s verses. Even as an iTunes exclusive track, it’s one of my favorites from the album. Don’t be surprised if this gets single treatment later down the line.
Final thoughts:
Overall, The Pinkprint is a very solid effort from Nicki Minaj. It appears she took a few pages out of all of her previous works and meshed it together to deliver her most enjoyable, creative, and honest effort, to date. The Pinkprint shapes up to bridge that gap of the new fans of Nicki’s Pop music along with Nicki’s loyal legion of Hip-Hop fans that have been with her since her humble beginnings during her mixtape circuit. While I would have love to hear a few more hard-hitting tracks on the standard version of the album, I can only commend her for her honesty and letting us into her personal life through these tracks. Nicki has gone on record to say that she wanted this album to be blueprint for female Rap albums. Dare I say it, Nicki may have just accomplished that.
The Pinkprint is available everywhere today!
