Its a big difference. Minaj in her essence released a 22 track album on her 41st birthday, Dec 8th.
Here’s an excerpt from her main site, in preparation of her album, she penned an open letter to her fans, dubbed Barbz:
DEAR Barbz,
& everyone in
#BarbBusiness:
I just want to make great music. Simply for the sake of creating great music. What’s wrong with that? Music that ppl will always remember b/c of that incredible feeling they had the very first time they heard it. Music that makes them feel happy, confident, hopeful…sad, introspective, nostalgic. Music that expresses their thoughts on relationships @ a time where ppl are so afraid to fall in love b/c they have to protect their hearts from being embarrassed on Facebook…
Music that reminds you that a lot of ppl you rlly look up to were born with nothing; so they can relate to you a lot more than you think…reminds you that for the most part, we are all having the same experience in diff ways on diff days for different lengths of time.
Fear/apprehension is normal, reminds us we are alive & that we want to live. Gut feelings are real. The spirit of discernment is so important as it relates to business choices, wealth & prosperity, yet is often overlooked or downplayed & rarely ever discussed.
Stress happens.
Anxiety is a real pain in the ass.
Breathe.
You’re ok.
Grief is normal.
Guilt is debilitating…so put an end to it or you’ll never soar as high as you truly can. Love is still magical. Marriage is still beautiful. Motherhood is scarier than I thought it would be…but everything I dreamed it would be…and so much more.
Setting boundaries will free you from the torture of being a ppl pleaser to ppl who don’t GAF about you or anything you’re going through.
One day, it’ll be hard to find anyone who’ll do for you what you did for them…but your blessings will still pile up. So no need to carry all those regrets on your back. Let them go.
It’s weighing you down.
Can’t you tell?
Laugh more. It locks in that memory & one day when you’re uncontrollably crying, I pray that memory is unlocked so that you bust out laughing & wipe those tears off your face.
This too, shall pass.
Love always,
Harajuku Barbie
It’s always great to see artists like Nicki Minaj returning to their roots and exploring their artistic vision. I’m sure her fans had been eagerly waiting for her to reclaim her throne as the queen of rap with this new album. This album is considered a sequel to her 2010 debut album “Pink Friday”. The release of “Pink Friday 2” has been highly anticipated, as it marks her return to the music scene after multiple delays.
She spoke with Vogue Magazine about the reality of her rap reign, Nicki Minaj wants to be understood. “I’m a bit…particular,” she concedes. “Sometimes things that the best engineer in the world wouldn’t hear, I hear. And you know what? I am always right.”
The first 3 tracks serve as an intro version to a performance piece. Its Nicki as Nicki, just rapping, it gives a Baisley renaissance energy. She started back in 2007, dropping mixtapes around the hood. Her boyfriend and creative partner at the time, Safaree, would bring her around Brooklyn hotspots, like Midwood’s Flatbush Junction. She began spitting, recording in make shift studios around the hood, and performing in underground open mic nights. The first couple of tracks pays homage to these roots. Her first big song on the project features rap heavy hitter, J Cole from the Dreamville circuit. It is a huge song. It dabbles in the cat and mouse response call featured in a lot of Jay and Bey’s music work. It is the avid exchange of male to female energy in relationships. Its a Venus vs Mars done Pink Friday style. In the end, it’s the creative clashes and unexpected collaborations that keep the music industry evolving.
In 2009, Nicki’s track, “I Get Crazy“, reached number 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart and number 37 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It was a mixtape single. We have seen this artist work as an unsigned performer as well as work to continue on within an industry built upon Black dollars. She is a rap star. In recent years, industry beef has held the front pages of Nicki Minaj’s acumen which eclipses her artistry. Pink Friday 2 sounds like Nicki saying, “hello its me! bitches.”
Tahyira Savanna reports as a rapper herself whose been inspired by the income Nicki Minaj receives from writing raps.
I think as a first generational artist from Trinidad too, there’s a lot about her personally that I can see. She is humbled and the gimmick aspect of her brand was established by men. Let’s look back at the industry around 2007, I was a sophomore in college, when I first found her mixtape on Myspace, YES MYSPACE! Social media was nothing. You had to still be in the industry to even put out a mixtape back then. I had so much awe for her and coming from Brooklyn, I knew they’d auto-compare her to Lil Kim. It was different to me though. I loved that she went to LaGuardia, my little cousin attended the performing arts high school as well. I loved that she was Black. I hated that she was so fake. I was able to engage with her art as a listener but I never really got into her music videos or performances. I wanted her to eventually be sort of like Taylor Swift or Beyonce, to just own your own look. Too many times as her fan, I would be bullied by others who would say, “oh who cant get a big butt and rap nonsense,” or “how is she fake and Drake can just be himself?” I defended it as a fellow Trinidadian-American myself. I saw that worldly impression of her hurt her. After her break-up, I felt like she would fall to depression and sickness like so many other greats before her, Whitney Houston and MJ, comes to mind. When she hosted the VMAS, she named dropped the same artists. It was clear that too much lime light causes negativity. I worried about her finding balance. Pink Friday 2 feels like a celebration for all those non-Barbz fans like me who just honor the work. We respect the storylines. Its real rap. She has inspired me to be real about my sound as Tee Slaves. She also taught me to be loud about all of my small accomplishments. She is unapologetically Nicki Minaj and as a Black woman, we have to show respect.
