Review: Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday

Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday

Rating: 7/10

SO this was definitely one of THE albums I have been waiting for all year. Nicki Minaj has certainly earned the right to tout herself as one of the biggest names in pop music right now so it comes as no surprise that the hype behind Pink Friday was monumental. I had originally heard this album last week but waited to write this review because I wanted to hear it in its entirety including bonus tracks. Here is why I gave Pink Friday an average rating:

1) Lack of impressive production. By no means should this have even been an issue. I know for a fact that a) money was no object in terms of this project and b) there was a void of interest in working with Nicki. She's has the biggest buzz in the streets yet on Pink Friday, very few track deliver a bang. Nicki had a few big names under her belt: Swizz Beatz, Will.I.Am (even though I'm not the biggest fan of Check It Out), Bangladesh, and J.R. Rotem. But the majority of the album was produced by up and coming producers Kane Beats, Drew Money, T-Minus, and Pop Wansel. Even with the diversity of producers, the album failed to provide any true smashes sans the self-explanatory Roman's Revenge and Moment 4 Life which features Drake. The track Blazin', is decent but only because of Nicki's boldness to take on a rapid spit-fire rhyme pattern and of course feature Kanye West who does his thing as usual. Not so much because of the beat. The only other track that I really find impressive production wise is Here I Am, which was once again, produced by Swizz. Thus that is only 4 songs that I can truly say really stood out.

2) Lack of features. Out of ANYONE in this past year (and credit goes to my boy Mike D. on this train of thought) Nicki Minaj is the one person in 2010 whom many artists owe a favor to since she make their tracks hotter with her features. Nicki Minaj has garnered 7 songs on the Billboard Top 100 Singles charts, the first artist to ever do so. THEREFORE there is NO reason why there was a lack of impressive features on Pink Friday. Granted Eminem definitely raised the ante on Roman's Revenge, HOWEVER "Fly" which features Rihanna is honestly wack. As I stated earlier, "Moment 4 Life" with Drake is awesome. T-Minus (who produced the smash "How Low Can You Go" for Ludacris) definitely did a great job on this song so I applaud Nicki for getting this one right. "Check It Out" serves its purpose to get crossover appeal for sure but I still dislike it heavily. Nicki did come correct on the verse where she spits one of my favorite lines by her: "Pop up on these hoes on some pimple shit/And put the iron to your face you old wrinkled bitch". Other than Kanye and the mediocre "Last Chance" which features Natasha Beddingfield, the album is mostly Nicki. Granted I do appreciate the fact that she is standing on her own two feet seeing as the majority of her catalog is based on one-verse heaters, there is a lack of character in her topic choices which segues to my next section.

3) Lack of personality. Nicki Minaj has made a staple for herself because of her variety of accents and pitches but you don't really see that on this album. I was informed that in a recent radio interview, Nicki stated that she wanted to deviate from the "Barbie" persona and give people a different perspective. Thats all well and fine, on your SECOND album. You have to give the fans what they want. When Nicki spazzes out, she goes all the way in and I can't do anything but give her mad props on her approach. On the majority of the singles she featured on, she was as unpredictable as Gaga's outfits. However on Pink Friday, she tends to talk a lot about love and emotions which I can appreciate but only for a track or two. Overall, I think Miss Minaj really shorthanded her fanbase which was built on her crazy antics, not so much on her topic choices. Hell even the album cover makes one think that they are in for a crazy rollercoaster ride. However, it turns out that it was only a few big thrills and a lot of filler. I hope that with Wayne home, he will chime his two cents in because if Young Money as a camp is nodding and agreeing that this album is crack, they must be on it. I still am very much a big supporter of Nicki and I hope she does great numbers the first week out. The future of other up and coming femcees are depending on it. Sadly I must say, Pink Friday is only worth a few songs, and not an entire album.

I will say in closing that all you Nicki haters and Kim Stans out there should not use this as fuel to say why Kim is better than Nicki. I refer you to this link to sum up what I have to say in regards to that: http://rapradar.com/2010/11/19/nicki-minaj-ethers-lil-kim/

The Thoughtful One has spoken

Review: Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

Kid Cudi - Man on The Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager
Rating - 7.5/10

So its been a while since I've reviewed an album but I felt it fitting to jump it off again given all these fall releases. I'll be honest, when I first heard Cudi's music, I thought Day N Nite was dope but when I listened to his mixtape "A Kid Named Cudi", I slept hella hard. It really just didn't hit me. So naturally when he released his second mixtape "Dat Kid From Cleveland", I passed. Then came MOTM1. I finally saw the true artist that lies in Scott Mescudi. It made me really appreciate the honesty and emotion that exuded from Cudi's music. Thus I was extremely anxious to hear MOTM2: The Legend of Mr. Rager.

UNFORTUNATELY, on MOTM2, its quite evident that Cudi is struggling with his addiction to drugs. Anyone who is a casual listener can tell that Cudi's music is very much stoner music, however, on the first album, there was a clear musical journey that Cudi seemed to take the listener on. With his latest album, it is not as cohesive of a concept album as the last one was. Rather it is a collection of songs, some peering into the darker side of Cudi's life with the addiction to heavy drugs but others just kind of fall flat.

I will say that the album does start off very strong. Cee-Lo makes an appearance on the first track "Scott Mescudi vs. The World" and sounds off quite beautifully. REVOFEV (which stands for Revolution of Evolution) has always been an interesting song to me. Its probably the most eclectic song on the album and I applaud Cudi for taking the chance and doing an excellent job of sticking to his style. The next track, "Don't Play This Song" features Mary J. Blige and basically is telling the listeners whom wish to hear a song by him where he's sober to skip that song. Catchy but nothing terribly meaningful.

From there the album sort of veers with an ode to Cudi's favorite drug of choice, Marijuana. Honestly, I figured a song dedicated to something that Cudi loves so much, it would have been much more amazing, but it really wasn't. I could go on and on about each track but honestly, the album doesn't warrant it. I will say this though, the middle of the album is actually quite good. From Mojo So Dope (where Cudi gets on his shit saying how ill his style is) to Wylin' Cuz I'm Young (where Cudi flaunts his youth and justifies his raging), Cudi reminds me why I like him.

When he focuses, Cudi is on point. But its right towards the end of the album that Cudi loses this focus. I hope for his fans (I included) that he really re-evaluates his substance consumption when it comes time for him to create. Otherwise I feel like he is going to deviate from his musical vision and the resulting music will sound like a drug trip, a random series of events with no sense of direction.

The Thoughtful One has spoken