In a strange twist of fate, Nicki Minaj is actually losing for winning.
For nearly a decade, the biggest female rapper to ever do it has racked up millions of sales and dozens of awards; going virtually uncontested in terms of success from her peers — regardless of gender.
But the lack of competition has made The Barbz complacent in her approach. She never had to abide by the invisible cultural lines applied within Hip Hop; opting to focus her skills appeasing fans who go nutty over iHeartMedia properties, opposed to passionate rap debates. It’s a move that has padded her pockets for this lifetime, but like Bane told a bloodied Bruce Wayne, “Victory has defeated you.”
Which fully explains why her fourth studio album, Queen, comes off as a bloated assortment of songs that bang and boom devoid of any real soul. The album is largely built on fraternal filler such as “Hard White” and “Good Form,” poppy compositions and fairly wack punchlines. Nonsense like, “I’m thicker than peanut butter/He nuttin’ like Skippy now/He want me to be his wife/His misses like sippi now” is the kind of experimentation one would hope gets nixed in big-budget studio sessions, but apparently not.
Nicki Minaj has excelled to the point where Onika Maraj has resorted to being an alter ego when it comes to public appearances and the music. There are no deep layers to be uncovered on Queen. No methodical analysis responding to her critics for her reliance on sexual ploys. Nary a mention of any mental anguish the grave allegations her brother faces.
Yet one can’t be surprised by a lack of depth to the music when a career is based off the biggest selling plastic doll of all time. It’s just a damn shame that such talent is pissed out on metaphor-laden tracks like the soapy Ariana Grande collaboration “Bed” or Lil Wayne’s surface appearance on “Rich Sex,” both which sound like they follow 2014’s pinkprint to song creation.
Eminem once again kicks off a Nicki album – this time via “Majesty” – with a scatterbrain, rhyme fest of a verse that equally confuses and impresses. The hypnotic “Chun-Li,” with its echoing sirens and snazzy delivery, has stood the test of time in not only being a gem on the album but also her catalog in general. But a song like “Barbie Dreams” gets an A+ for execution and D- for originality. Modeled after the late great Biggie’s quirky and controversial single, B.I.G.’s rendition was remade by Lil Kim in 1996 and save for the update in rapper dicks, it’s the exact same song as the OG Queen Bee’s version.
Unsurprisingly, Nicki is at her nicest when she’s tapped into her Trinidadian roots on records, a sole indicator that she hasn’t totally left her craft to formula. Album opener “Ganja Burns” also doubles as the LP’s strongest record, as the soundscape provided by J. Reid blitzes through a heatwave of thundering drums and guitar electricity while Nicki’s vocals provide a comparable warm level of instrumentation. And although Foxy Brown’s inclusion on “Coco Chanel” is equally as petty as Remy Ma recruiting Lil Kim for a fruitless pairing, the duet is an absolute reggae rocket of a record that doesn’t let Queen conclude on a sour note.
A lucrative career has allowed Nicki a ton of leeway and even if Queen doesn’t benefit from a goofy social media challenge, her queendom is safe for now. No, Cardi B won’t eclipse her status in the next year, regardless of how many reshares a hyperbolized tweet gets. And her co-headlined NICKIHNDRXX Tour with Future is sure to enjoy several sold-out dates.
That being said, Nicki had better map out what she truly wants to do outside of releasing tepid 19-track albums. The luxury of residing on an uncontested throne doesn’t last forever.
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If I could give it a 0 then I would
Album has highlights like Ganja Burns & Coco Chanel with Foxy but for the most part this is not a good album. Very uninspiring & its the same old stuff she’s been doing. Nothing I’m interested in going back to
Album is a 4. Having seen the funk flex interview if you are not real then you will never relate to Nikki. She writes her own stuff. If you are lazy no skills dude then Nikki ain’t for you brah. Go listen to your swag rap.
It’s no wonder Safaree did not last. But i don’t understand how game can stand behind Safaree and not Meek.
Who stands behind Safaree?
The Game
So why the fuck You gave it a 5?
Because I now understand why people say she was the king of NY. She realer than half these rap dudes brah. A lot of rap dudes can’t write and have emotional issues which is funny to me. It’s not surprising she and Meek gel. Meek is a real dude in every sense. Self made. So she get and extra star.
Aha. M’key. Next time try to rate music not artists behind the music, this will save You from giving that kind of sophisticated explanations
This is a result of her rushing out this project because she was feeling some kind of way about Cardi B. The fact she dropped two singles and an announcement as Cardindrooped an album said it all. Funny, now she’s gonna be that has been she called Lil Kim. Young people think they will never get old lol
I’ve always said this about music reviews: these are people’s opinions of music. What they look for and like could be totally different from what you like. I enjoy reading reviews of music for what the writer focuses on more over what they don’t. Everybody has a preference and you can’t honestly give an opinion if you didn’t. Bottom line, listen for yourself and form your own opinion.
2/5 BELOW AVERAGE
THIS HAS LIKE 3 BANGERS
Too many haters in this world
A few decent songs and the rest is pretty avarage. I hoped the production of this album will be fresh, but it’s similar to the nowadays hip-hop/pop standards. Nothing new.
Nicki ain’t no queen. Writing your own lines mans nothing when they are this weak. Cardi’s ghostwriters are 1000 pct more talented than this plastic sex toy, as is Remy Ma, lil Kim and a bunch of much more talented women coming up having taken no influence from Minaj.
She rapped her ass off on this… this is the “Album from Mixtape Nicki” that people have been waiting for forever. Skip the 10% poppy shit and the rest is flames.
Oh and Eminem is unnecessary as ever.
I’d give it a decent 4, I really enjoyed listening to this album, even though it has it’s flaws. Tbh, I expected it to be much worse so yea
This album is hot dog water that’s been sitting in a pot for 3 weeks.
IF U HAVEN’T BEEN ROCKIN’ WITH NICKI SINCE DAY 1 U SHOULDN’T REVIEW THIS ALBUM. I’M GLAD IT’S NOT FULL OF TRAP TRACKS. IT’S DEFINITELY NOT AN ALBUM WHERE U JUDGE IT OFF THE FIRST LISTEN, OR SKIP OVER TRACKS. I LOVE HER EXPERIMENTATION ON THIS ALBUM. I REALLY ENJOY LISTENING TO IT. SHE GAVE ME WHAT I WANTED, A LIL BIT OF EACH OF HER STYLES, MINUS THE SUPER BASS SOUND; PLUS FOXY & THEM TRINI + CASH MONEY VIBES. CONSIDERING ALL THE ISH SHE BEEN DEALIN’ WITH CAUSE OF THE NICKI HATE TRAIN THIS WAS A SOLID ALBUM. MAYBE 2 OR 3 TRACKS I CAN LIVE WITHOUT, BUT I’M GUCCI WITH THE ALBUM OVERALL.
Yeah unless you are a D Riding die hard fan you should not allowed to have an opinion
Oh cool pr is dropping comments as if it’s a real fan. ? Nah album is trash sorry….
Capslock ain’t gonna cut it. This album is below average.
Lady of Rage’s verse on Eiht’s “Heart Cold” has more heart and soul than on this entire album.
Ganja Burn, Coco and Ems verse only dope on this project. Remember when Nicki said she was making an old school album. Foh. This is not it.
Ems Verse is 4 Bars on Topic then he starts talking random Bullshit to fabricate Rhymes,double entendres and punchlines. Dude goes Rhyme over Reason 80% of the time
And still, its one of the high lights of the album.
Trash
Is that the Album she called a Rap Classic?? smfh
It’s ust not good.
Issa no from me, dog. It’s sad that Barbie Dreams & Coco Chanel are the best the album has to offer.
So many haters on here … the album is fire, and it seems like the reviewer needs to give this album another listen. Do better at hiding your bias next time.
It’s quite simple:
Beats – 7/10
Lyrics – 3/10
That makes it average at BEST. I BET you won’t play this in 8 months.
So nobody likes “Sir”, “Hard white” “Chun Swae” and “Miami” I thought those were dope…. People want Deep bars from Nicki but she never provided that she’s always been a surface rapper kinda like the female Wayne. How do we change our mind on rappers that consistently do what they do? Just asking because I do music myself so I need some more consumer opinions. Thanks in advance… Menziah
This album is just what I expected it to be. Garbage
The album is just ok this has been a weak year so far for hiphop one highlight this year tho is Silkk The Shockers new comeback album it’s strait fire probably the best album I have heard this year
Far from a royal release? Yes, yet you still give a 3.4? At least 1.4 too much. Y’all afraid of Nicki’ or something. Stale hot mess of an album, just how many of you outside of her barbie stans are going to replay this album? She’s not matured at all.
If you are saying this should have got a 2 rating your bugging. It’s definitely not a classic album by any means but a 2 isn’t accurate either.
Oh good you can do Math. Good for you, pal.
her worst (I dont count the pop one cuz chile)
I used to like her, but she got waaaayyyyy to fucking arrogant which eventually rubbed a lot of folks the wrong way. It’s ok to have a little arrogance, but at some point you need to humble yourself. This shit she doing on twitter now with safaree talking about a fake hairline…lol… this bitch entire body is fake….lol… his hairline surgery didn’t take, yet her ass keeps going flat….lmao…
I dont give a fuck about Safaree either, I’m just saying, you shouldn’t throw stones when you live in a glass house.
My bad, as far as the album goes…..2.5…..sorry for the rant, but tired of this broad.
Something isn’t right. XXL rated the album XL. Whoever rated this slammed it but gave it 3.4. By the Source’s standard, that would be just under 3.5 mics (which is dope) if my mind serves me correctly.
Now, I haven’t heard the album and I definitely won’t but I said all that to say… aI can’t trust none of you. Yall opinion aint shit!
I gave it 4/5 I expected it to bad but better then I thought
Her content is not interesting. Just wacky punchlines which get played out after a while..
Wack Wack Wack. that’s all I have to say. she’ll get spins in Europe for that Ibetha* sound shit but no respect from the rap circles. I think it’s safe to demote her to the pop genre.
It’s a great pop/rap summer album. What did you expect from Nicki?
there must be a copyright notice on that music too. OH THE IRONY.
Even Funk Flex was feeling this album. “Barbie Dreams” is criticized here as unoriginal, but that is an opinion in the minority; consensus matters here, evaluating the technical elements of the songs, and not just projecting personal opinion. The critique of her album, I feel, has subconsciously to do with her being a woman. It seems like she is judged by a much harder standard. You can take any album, pick out a few lines, and say that they’re wack (like the writer does with the “nutting like Skippy now” example) because the way that something is written, and how it sounds, the way it flows, etc. are entirely different things. Does the audience want a Nicki Minaj album where she gets super personal, which, in turn, qualifies for critically acclaimed status? Or do you just drop bars, and response from the community overall determines if it is dope?
Come one son! Funk Flex was trying to advantage of the moment. all that shit he was popping off when Cardi was coming out and all of sudden he’s “feeling” nicki’s music when it’s the same played out punchline pop as it’s ever been? And how is barbie dreams being unoriginal an opinion? If Biggie and Lil’ Kimm did the song 20 years ago that sounds like unoriginal to me?
?
Funk Flex was defending Mister Cee after dude got caught with a tr4nny pr0stitute for like the 100th time. You can’t take him seriously.
Wow…the person who wrote this sounds amazing. If only I could emulate his/her critical thinking skills regarding hip hop music…I would be one lucky girl. He/she went a little hard, but I’ve only heard a couple of the songs off the album and I can say that I’m not impressed. Thus, my listening and ability to crititique falls short of this eloquence. But hey, I just like good music when I ride my bike. Still, I’m intrigued by the writer. I wonder if he/she is open to outdoor activities? Maybe a real risk taker? Perhaps I should subscribe…
Anybody that supports this is also supporting child ra.pe and pedophilia. Ask her brother and 69. Continue to support my boo Drake and his album Scorpion, which is album of the year. He’s already destroyed the fake drug dealer Pusha T and is now selling out arenas with the Migos. I can’t wait to go to his concert, hoping he’ll slap my hand.
So you want us to support a deadbeat who wore Blackface? That’s a no for me Dawg!!!!
Drakes album was one of the worst releases this year. Migos are trash. Always have been. Sounds like you like pop music not hip hop. Move along
You know you’re trash when 2018 Eminem is a high light on your album.
I have up on Nicki after the first album.
Her brand/lyrics/voice annoy the shit outa me. Her music weak as fuck.hope she fades like the mothafckn wind
This album is super hot flaming Church’s chicken trash….Str8t garbage! Cardi B take your throne! #assOutofHereNiki
With the addition of FEFE I like 6 out of 20 songs. I’ll give it a 3 out of 5 though just because I like her as a personal overall LOL
Theres so many weak bars on this project it takes the focus away from the few dope ones. Some of the beats are cool but her lyrics become very repeatable after a while. 10/19 songs passable. 4/10 pretty dope. Strongest track is Ganja Burns
This broad needs a reality check she can play queen & have tea parties like children, THIS WOMAN IS NOT A QUEEN & is highly dillusional
Her album dope ?
look, boobies.
a lot of her album is filled with filler songs lol
الملكة
Do you know why the arm is positioned like that?
To cover up the dick!
After the first sone ‘Ganja Burn’ I thought this album would be dope. The songs just kept getting worse and worse after that.
Would have been a great album as a single.
Alright
Majesty and Barbie Dreams are great but the rest of the album is just alright
❤?