Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday Review

Surely Nicki Minaj is just a feature artist? She can only jump on people’s tracks. An album of her own? Surely not? Ladies and Gentleman, she has. The long awaited album of Nicki Minaj has arrived for all to grab a copy with a full recommendation from me. The same fire and New York attitude she brings onto other people’s tracks can be seen throughout her album.

The album begins with my favourite track I’m The Best. Pacey and almost like a declaration of what is in store for the rest of the album. Minaj raps about a range of topics which is, to be honest, a relief. Hip hop songs are becoming awfully monotonous these days particularly those on a debut album. Fortunately she has not conformed – another tick for Minaj.

Certain tracks on Pink Friday really reveal to the audience just what kind of rapper we are dealing with – one of quality and creativity. No two tracks are the same. Blazin’ particularly shows off her deliverance, timing and articulation. In terms of gender, it goes without saying that currently she is the best in her field. She is the new Lil’ Kim. Whether Kim herself wants to accept it or not – it’s a fact.

We’ve heard Nicki sing on Your Love with the help of autotune – most rappers do this. In Pink Friday we hear more of her autotuned singing. Normally, autotune is frowned upon, however, in this instance it is not overused or used in places where it is not needed. It always adds to the substance of the track. However, Here I Am appears to feature her singing voice with very little effect and still sounds just as good.

I feel the songs chosen as singles were the right ones. There is a neat division between the singles songs and album songs. In the backing track for the singles all have one thing in common – they are not so “Nicki-concentrate”. They appeal to a much wider audience because they are not so hard-hitting like Roman’s Revenge and Did It On ‘Em. A good example of this is Your Love with is sample coming from Annie Lennox’s 1994 hit ‘No More “I Love You’s”’.

This album is smart. It really is a reflection of what we have seen so far from Nicki. But I would go as far to say that it’s an upgrade. Her collaborations with artists prior to the album’s release were little drops of tantalisers to tease her audience. In this album we are finally allowed to drench ourselves with what she has to offer with guilt-free indulgence. The artists that feature in Pink Friday are a current selection of the ruling class in the music world. The likes of Rihanna and Will.I.Am are what you call the cherries on top of an album that already has a sweet taste. It maybe a disappointment to those who expecting a hardcore and straight-up rap album. But the rest of us who like a more.... "approachable" version of hip hop this really hits the spot.

This album surely crowns Nicki Minaj the new reigning Queen of Hip Hop. Long live the Queen.

4/5 stars.