Whether you admit it or not, you too have recently recited a Nicki Minaj punchline. Whether it’s because you think she’s cute, you think she really has remarkable rapping skills or simply because you can’t get that damn quirky lower octave delivery out of your head. You have been Nicki-fied.
The reality of Nicki Minaj is that she’s arrived. So where did she come from? It’s general knowledge she’s from New York, but aside from geographically, it seems as if she came out of nowhere. It’s like one day she took over BET and became a trending topic on Twitter. Because of today’s technology coupled with the instant gratification era, it wouldn’t be shocking if she was anybody else. However, she was someone who had never received this type of notoriety: the female rapper.
Like it or not, Nicki has not only figured out her niche –bisexual innuendo witty rap and urban Barbie-esque animated persona – but is milking the hell out of it. She is very aware of her brand and its worth. Her timing couldn’t have been any better – the void of a female MC in today’s music scene desperately needed to be filled. But timing has never been the problem with the new reigning queen of rap. The question is: where does she go from here? She’s already been compared to every female rapper that’s ever mattered. We get that. She’s already had the plastic surgery. We’ve noticed. She’s dropped an uber popular mixtape. We all listened. And then of course, she’s already been featured on everybody’s song from Usher, Robin Thicke, Mariah Carey & Ludacris. We heard. But after the video premiere of her first official single, (the Sean Garrett overly produced “Massive Attack”) the Harajuku Barbie train may be taking a turn.
But maybe this is all part of her master plan.
Here’s the thing though. She is a star. She’s made us all pay attention at some point and got us talking. And as far as hip hop today is concerned, she’s someone you have to acknowledge. For someone who hasn’t officially dropped an album, isn’t from a famous family, has been co-signed by one of the biggest rappers in the game and gotten this much attention – this is territory no other female MC has ever tackled. Then again, when the last female rapper was out the machine that is now 106 & Park and the prominence of blogs was still in transition. It’s two things that Nicki has worked to her advantage and because of it she has a distinctive following that she refers to as “Barbies” (over 700,000 of them following her on Twitter) and her oh-so-clever “Nictionary” which decorate her brand.
For the LaGuardia High School graduate, this is just the fruit of her labor. Since 2004, Minaj has been going hard songwriting and background singing for various artists. For someone who’s known for rapping, Minaj is professionally apt in both singing and acting – which may explain why she plays her new role in the industry so well.
With all that being said about her, what else can Nicki Minaj do to get us talking? Well, she could get Diddy to manage her. And whether this is true or not, let’s be honest. That collaboration is more hype than productivity. Because we all know that when it comes to Diddy, he’s always the star. Everyone he’s associated with – when it comes to artists – has to take a backseat to him. And that’s just not the kind of artist Minaj strikes us as.
But the star has bigger problems than celebrity management. The truth is that she had the audacity to have a fairly successful run at the music biz all before dropping an album. She’s become uber successful so fast. She’s already collaborated with all these A-list acts, performed at Madison Square Garden and made numerous 106 & Park appearances. She has no threat or actual opponent because her biggest competition is herself. So what’s the problem you ask?
That she’s already made it to the top.
And as you know, what goes up must come down. –mattie james
