Roman
Reloaded
“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and
it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” Marilyn Monroe
said this who is an iconic woman in everyone’s eyes today. Nicki Minaj has also become iconic in her own
way. She may not be famous for the same
reason as Monroe but she sure knows how to get people’s attention. Minaj came on the music scene about three
years ago when she signed a record deal with Lil Wayne’s music group called
Young Money. Young Money has several
young and fresh rappers that Lil Wayne has taken under his rap wing. Minaj was the first hard core female rapper
to come on the scene since her very public enemy Lil Kim. Lil Kim who is known for her vulgar lyrics
and barely their clothing hates Minaj who also raps about vulgar things and wears
eclectic clothing. Minaj lures people in
with her insane fashion choices that resemble much of Lady Gaga. From the sounds of it Minaj comes across as a
female copy cat trying to wear last year’s Versace.
In her new album “Roman
Reloaded” she has 22 tracks several have big name features in the rap world,
her founder Lil Wayne, brief romancer Drake, and friend Chris Brown. If you follow Minaj at all you know about her
2012 Grammy performance back in February she preformed her single “Roman Holiday”,
she did an expected over the top performance yet no one expected it to be what
it was. She walked on the red carpet and
a red cape with her “Priest” holding her hand.
In her performance, which closed the 54th annual Grammys, she
did an onstage exorcism which involved her being exorcised. If she was trying to get noticed she did but
she is already so well known it didn’t seem necessary to be that insane on stage. This again sounds a little Gaga doesn’t it?
But the girl can rap and even if she’s wearing Gagas rejects she can sure rock
them better than you could.
Nicki Minaj doesn’t play
by the rules and doesn’t care what anyone thinks. She has alter egos and her most infamous one
is her character “Roman”. Minaj in the
past has explained him as her bad self that she has very little control
over. On her last album, Pink Friday,
she introduced Roman in “Romans Revenge”, a song about her rival Lil Kim. Lil Kim of course did a song in reply to
Minajs called “Black Friday”; both left nothing to the imagination and had no
restraints on what was said. Roman is
mentioned throughout Minajs whole album but she has two songs completely
dedicated to Roman, “Roman Holiday” and “Romans Revenge”.
Minaj raps but can also
carry a tune, she shows off her vocals on most of her choruses and isn’t bad. She has made this album very cohesive which
is hard considering she has a whopping 22 tracks. Track 2, “Come on a Cone”, not her most
impressive with lines like “damn I’m so cold I should come on a cone” and her
random break into “put my dick in your face” which she’s shows off her vocals
for. Yet it’s all so random and pretty
cheesy but she does bring the cone aspect into another song called “Champions”
talking about ice cream cones. So
although some songs are random and you wonder what went through her head you won’t
mind it because for whatever reason it ends up making sense.
“Starships” is her most
recent single, a cute going out jam that’s easy to sing along with. In the video she channels one of her idols,
Marilyn Monroe. She rocks Monroe’s famous
hairdo with her own twist, hot pink instead of blonde. Minaj ties Monroe throughout the album and
even has a song named after her, “Marilyn Monroe”, she compares herself to the
idol and talks about the hardships she went through. The Monroe thing works for Nicki and works on
this album. Minajs body just like Monroe’s
is highly talked about and many strive for her body. She like Monroe has insane curves and her
best asset, her ass. “Marilyn Monroe” is
one of her slow ballads but she has several dance tunes like “Starships”. “Pound the Alarm”, “Va Va Voom”, ‘Whip It”,
and “Turn Me On” featuring the club music leader David Guetta. These songs will have you unfortunately fist
pumping but in a good way, not sure if that’s possible after the “Jersey Shore”.
As a strong female
rapper Nicki Minaj has had several tunes about being a woman but many might get
fed up with her use of bitch, hoe, and pussy.
She says these words more than you’ve breathed while reading this. She even has a song, “Stupid Hoe”, which over
and over states “you a stupid hoe, you a you a stupid hoe”. You might be convinced that you’re a stupid
hoe but don’t worry it’s just the way she is and she’s not going to
change. She doesn’t care if she offends
anyone which makes her far from boring.
There is a very good balance of slow ballads, cheesy dance tunes, and
hard core rap which makes for an eclectic album but it’s all cohesive so it
makes sense.
Songs on their own are
solid some better than others but you have 22 to chose from so you’re bound to
like at least one, or maybe half of one. Some might need a roman holiday after
listening and some may be craving for more. If you’re into the mainstream stuff
test out “Starships” and if your fiending for some badass rap put on “Roman
Reloaded”. Put on some hot pink lipstick,
hip hugging pants, a pink wig and your ready to channel your inner Nicki, or if
you’re feeling hardcore maybe channeling your inner Roman. Whatever your mood
is you’ll be able to find some tune to express how you feel. Nicki Minaj is absolutely ridiculous but like
Monroe said its better than being absolutely boring.
