13 years after the release of her debut studio album, Nicki Minaj has released Pink Friday 2, an album many speculated would be a continuation of the original triple-platinum, award-winning, Pink Friday. Instantly shooting the then up-and-coming rapper to fame, the album is widely considered a pop culture classic of the early 2010s. A trail-blazing mix of techno-pop with traditional rap and hip-hop, the album would go on to define Nicki Minaj’s legacy as the “Queen of Rap,” a title she still holds today as the current best-selling female rapper of all time.
After teasing the album’s release for months, and pushing back the release date several times, Pink Friday was finally released on December 8th, the rapper’s 41st birthday. Composed of 22 songs, nine more than the original, the album features artists like J. Cole, Lil Wayne, Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, and Future; however, the most notable facet of the album would have to be Minaj’s use of samples. The first song on the track list, “Are You Gone Already,” samples a sped-up version of Billie Eilish’s critically acclaimed “when the party’s over.” Another defining sample is Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” on the track titled “Pink Friday Girls.” Allegedly, Lauper has never before cleared a master recording of her smash hit. The album additionally features a sample from Rick James’s 80s classic “Super Freak.” Many critics found Minaj’s overt use of sampling lazy and lackluster in comparison to the rapper’s earlier creative choices in the original Pink Friday. While I can accept that Pink Friday 2 did not have quite as monumental an impact as the original release, I do believe it was a fairly good standalone body of work. The songs chosen for sampling are instantly recognizable, and many of them are fun additions to an overall upbeat album. Many of the songs are clearly meant for dancing, with a handful already going viral on TikTok, including “Everybody” or “FTCU.”
The album retained her current flow and style. This was a disappointment to many fans, as the album’s title implies a revival of her breakout pop style, a genre Minaj has pointedly strayed away from in the years since Pink Friday. However, the rapper still made references to her pop phase, quoting older hits like “Super Bass” and “Your Love.”
While the album may not have been what some expected, the album nonetheless debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making her the only female rapper in the country to have three albums of this status, demonstrating her permanence as an icon and proving that Nicki Minaj still has an iron grip on her reign as Queen of Rap.
