“Queen” is Nick Minaj’s fourth studio album with Young Money/Cash Money Records. Minaj is a American-Trinidadian rapper who first got her start with the group Young Money which includes Birdman, Lil Wayne and Drake.
She then branched off into her solo career, where she had huge success with her first two albums “Pink Friday” and “Pink Friday Roman Reloaded”. Both albums debut at number one on the Billboard Top 200, with her next album “The Pinkprint” debuting at number two.
Now with the rise of Cardi B. and other female artists, Minaj has released “Queen” to keep the ball rolling. Did “Queen” succeed or was this just to keep Minaj relevant while other artists rise up? This album is Minaj’s worst out of her four albums, but some moments were decent.
“Barbie Dreams” is the best song on her album with her taking shots at multiple rappers such as 50 Cent, Drake, Meek Mill and 6ix9ine. She also pays homage to Notorious B.I.G by using the beat from his song “Just Playing”.
She delivers some decent bars such as “Man, I ain’t got no type like Jimmi and Swae Lees”. Besides taking shots, she just delivers her normal bars about her body and how men fond over her. However, the beat and her clever lyrics really made this song stand out.
“Majesty”, which features Detroit-native rapper Eminem, is also a decent song. This track is the second with two artists and they advertised this song with their fake relationship on Instagram.
Eminem is the star of this song with witty lyrics such as “demented with the pen / I’ll make a motherf*cka donate”. His delivery on this song goes perfectly with the beat which is subpar but works for Slim Shady.
Besides these two songs, this album takes a deep dive as far as lyrics, production and over overall theme on the album.
You would think that Minaj would try to establish the queen gimmick with the album having 18 tracks, instead, she puts the same type of music like the previous album “The Pinkprint”.
Songs like “Chun Li”, “Chun Swae” and “Coco Channel” feel like rehashed songs by Minaj with no real need for them to be on the radio or to be played in clubs.
“FEFE” is probably the only song that is on the airwaves but the song belongs to 6ix9ine so this really does not help the album.
Minaj feels lost on this album and it shows throughout the 18 tracks with only two songs holding this album together. She could eventually bounce back once she lets album wash away, but right now she is nowhere near her crown with this one. 2/5
