Nicki Minaj — Pink Friday

Throwback Review | January 2024

Though not all of Pink Friday has aged gracefully, its legacy has. With Nicki Minaj’s debut album, it helped breath new life for women in Hip-Hop. With many female rappers having success currently, they all have to thank Nicki Minaj for it.

Nicki Minaj

In the mid to late 1980s, rappers from the likes of Queen Latifah, MC Lyte and Salt-N-Pepa opened the door for women to make a name for themselves within Hip-Hop. In the 1990s, this torch was passed on to the likes of Lil’ Kim, Missy Elliott and Foxy Brown. Artistic boundaries was pushed by Missy Elliott, Foxy Brown brought a level of female ferociousness and Lil’ Kim is arguably the most idolised and imitated woman in Hip-Hop. Gangsta Boo and Trina opened the doors for women in the South, and Da Brat became the first female rapper to sell one million copies with her debut album, Funkdafied. It’s safe to say the female scene within Hip-Hop was in a healthy state and continued to be until the mid-2000s. In the late-2000s it became quiet and dire, the rappers I mentioned previously all stopped producing albums. Other than Trina, everyone from Missy Elliott, Da Brat to even the likes of Eve were not putting out albums. Other rappers who initially built a buzz in the 2000s weren’t able to go to next level or have long term success. This includes the likes of Shawnna, Jackie-O, Khia and most notably Remy Ma, who dealt with label issues and then legal issues.

The only glimmer of hope by the turn of the 2010s, was a young woman who was signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money label. Nicki Minaj built her buzz and reputation through multiple mixtapes, but it was her third mixtape under the label Beam Me Up Scotty were she really started gaining attention. In 2010 a month prior to her debut release, Nicki would gain more attention after her feature on the classic Kanye West track “Monster”, which also featured Jay-Z and Rick Ross. Whilst, rapping on a song with three men who already had respected reputations, Nicki stood out and had the best verse. All this hype led to Pink Friday debuting at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 375,000 copies in its first week. Making it the second-highest sales week for a female Hip-Hop artist, only behind Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which was released in 1998. Not only did Nicki help bring attention back to female rap, she also brought attention back to New York City. As the mecca of Hip-Hop, New York produced an onslaught of talent through the 1980s to the early 2000s. After the movements of G-Unit, Dipset, Murder Inc. and Roc-A-Fella came to an end by the mid-2000s, New York City was quiet and Nicki Minaj was the first exciting artist to come out of the city since those movements came to a close.

The features off of Pink Friday are arguably an example and a reflection of how big Nicki’s hype was at the time, to have the likes of Eminem, Kanye West, and Rihanna on her debut album is quite impressive. Speaking of those three names they provide the best features off the album. Nicki holds her own and doesn’t let Eminem get the better of her on their collab track “Roman’s Revenge”. The animated Swizz Beatz produced track is easily the best song on the whole album, as both artists reach for their respective alter egos, Roman Zolanski (Minaj) and Slim Shady (Eminem), trading both verses and bars. Rihanna shows off a great vocal performance on the hook for the motivational single “Fly”. Whilst, Nicki and Kanye West produced another great collaborative track for “Blazin’”. Unfortunately, not all the collaborative tracks are great, most notably “Check It Out” featuring will.i.am and Natasha Bedingfield on the last track “Last Chance”. If there’s a song on the album that has aged the worst, it’s definitely “Check It Out”. It’s a song trapped in 2010, during the time when David Guetta and The Black Eyed Peas were having huge success making really cheesy dance/electronic tracks. Other Pop singles off of Pink Friday are way better from the likes of “Moment 4 Life” with fellow Young Money labelmate Drake and “Right Thru Me”. Natasha Bedingfield is the strangest feature on the album and just seems completely random, but it’s also clear that her inclusion was to produce another track to appease the Pop audience. Vocally Natasha doesn’t sound great on the chorus, and together Nicki and Natasha just don’t match well.

Pink Friday does go through a great run of tracks from “Roman’s Revenge” all the way through to “Moment 4 Life”. Briefly mentioned previously, “Moment 4 Life” is perhaps the definitive classic single to come from Pink Friday. It’s appropriately titled, as both Nicki and Drake at that moment were the new face of Young Money and Cash Money, and both had incredible hype around them. Similar to his label mate, Drake also went number one with his debut, Thank Me Later, a few months prior. Plus, the impact that they both would go on to have adds on to the legacy of the single. Other tracks that are great during the consistent run, include “Right Thru Me” and “Save Me” were Nicki showcases good singing abilities and not to mention the braggadocios track, “Did It On ‘Em” is also really good. Unfortunately, the second half of the album isn’t so consistent and is instead a mixed bag. “Blazin” and “Here I Am” are the best tracks the second half can offer, however songs such as “Dear Old Nicki” and the two previously mentioned singles, “Check It Out” and “Last Chance” are genuinely the worst parts of the album.

Celebrating its 15th anniversary next year, on the whole Pink Friday is a reflection of Nicki Minaj’s mark within both the Hip-Hop and Pop world. With her history of producing and being featured on Pop orientated music, this has perhaps led to many close minded Hip-Hop fans not recognising or acknowledging her impact. What Nicki Minaj accomplished, was that she drew back attention towards female MCs and became a commercially successful artist at the same time. With women having a healthy position within Hip-Hop currently, with the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B and Ice Spice, it most likely wouldn’t be this way if Nicki Minaj never came out. Pink Friday was nowhere near a perfect record in 2010 nor is it in 2024, however it’s impact and legacy is evident. Because of this, Nicki Minaj deserves the respect that she deserves.