Welcome to Gag City — the AI-generated fantasyland created by Nicki Minaj’s legion of devoted fans (nicknamed “Barbz”). Created in an effort to save the rollout for her fifth studio album “Pink Friday 2,” X, formerly known as Twitter, was taken over by futuristic AI images depicting the luxurious world of Gag City just a few days before the album’s release. Complete with just about every celebrity you could imagine finding their way into these artificial images, everyone from Beyoncé to Abby Lee Miller found their way into the fictional city. The viral sensation was quickly adopted by Minaj herself, just in time to make up for the agonizingly disjointed rollout for “Pink Friday 2” filled with delays and a whole lot of hype.
But as “Pink Friday 2” finally stands before us, Minaj struggles to make an impression in the way the record’s 2010 predecessor did.
Minaj’s career-defining debut album “Pink Friday” did more than just cement her own status in popular music — it redefined the possibilities for female emcees to transcend genres and achieve mainstream appeal. So when she announced that her fifth studio album would be released as a “follow-up” of sorts, expectations soared.
Hip-hop music has changed drastically in the 13 years since Minaj’s major label debut, with more female rappers than ever blazing new trails and forging their own lanes in music. Given the drastic increase in visibility for female rappers, you’d think Minaj might opt to feature some of of her contemporaries on a project rooted in feminine energy. Unfortunately, the opposite is in fact true. In all of 22 songs, only two properly feature female artists. The Kesha-mocking Lourdiz joins Minaj for “Cowgirl,” and gospel singer Tasha Cobbs Leonard lends her voice for the chorus of “Blessings,” resulting in two lackluster collaborations that lack the girl-power energy of the original “Pink Friday.”
For an artist whose collaborations with female contemporaries have consistently been highlights of her career (“Feeling Myself” with Beyoncé, “Fly” with Rihanna and “Get On Your Knees” with Ariana Grande, to name a few), it’s surprising that Minaj didn’t tap any of pop’s heavy-hitters for this album.
Except, in some ways, many of pop’s biggest names are in fact “on” the album. The opening song, “Are You Gone Already,” flips Billie Eilish’s “when the party’s over” in an excruciating manner. Eilish’s hit is sped up like a viral TikTok sound bite and fails to blend with added bass and percussion as Minaj raps her verses. Eilish isn’t credited as a “feature” despite the song essentially being a remix of “when the party’s over,” but is rather acknowledged as a sample. This practice of confusing sampling unfortunately continues throughout the rest of the album, with the likes of Blondie, Lumidee, Junior Senior, Rick James and Cyndi Lauper being sampled — almost all having their voices pitched higher for viral appeal. “My Life’s” sample of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” is particularly abominable and makes no sense as to why it’s featured.
The difference between Minaj’s sampling and that of Beyoncé’s “RENAISSANCE,” for example, is how overly contrived they seem. Rather than forging a new sound, Minaj’s samples mostly hold their respective songs back with corny, sped up nostalgia. The samples used on the original “Pink Friday” propelled the songs into fresh territory — something that she seems to have lost interest in.
At its best, Minaj’s heavy handed use of samples offers some reminiscence for the fizzy sounds of the original “Pink Friday.” Sure, the use of Lauper’s 1983 hit “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” on “Pink Friday Girls” is a bit rudimentary, but it gives listeners a fun and refreshed version of the synthpop classic. Not to mention, Minaj switches up her flow at least three times throughout the verses, reminding us of her raw talents.
Minaj is at her best when either bubbly and free or fine-tuned and sharp-tongued. These moments are few and far between on this album, only arriving occasionally. The bouncy “Bahm Bahm” showcases the Minaj fans know and love — one who effortlessly spits bar after bar atop a sparkling instrumental.
The first half or so of the album manages to remain mostly strong, with “Barbie Dangerous,” “FTCU,” “RNB (feat. Lil Wayne & Tate Kobang),” and “Big Difference” keeping the record on track. But things begin to drag as the three singles “Super Freaky Girl,” “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” and “Last Time I Saw You” come and go. Each struggle to feel fresh among the overwhelming amount of new material, and come across more as attempts to align their individual success with the album as a whole.
It’d be a welcome surprise surprising if this album spurred a classic in Minaj’s catalog in the way that the original “Pink Friday” launched “Roman’s Revenge,” “Did It On ‘Em” and “Super Bass” into popular hip-hop classics. The closest thing that “Pink Friday 2” offers is “Bahm Bahm” or “Big Difference,” but even that’s a stretch. Her sonic choices on the new album nearly abandon her signature fusion of pop and hip-hop altogether, leaving listeners with a largely male-aided collection of forgettable contemporary rap that lacks any kind of unique edge.
Things wrap up with “Just The Memories,” a pleasantly sentimental closer that details Minaj reflecting on her journey to the top.
“Look at all the shit that y’all threw at me, and I never dipped/Greatest female rapper to ever live, and that’s on my kid/I could’ve overdosed, could’ve been comatosed/Wait, hold on, Juice, I feel the baby kickin’, holy smokes,” she spits, sneaking in a not-so-subtle flex in the way she does best.
Her flow is laid-back and clean, allowing her lyrics to make an impact in a way that regains attention at the end of a tremendously long project.
In the end, “Pink Friday 2” won’t go down as one of Minaj’s career triumphs. Though about half of the record somewhat demonstrates just why she earned the “Queen of Rap” title, the album comes across as more of a pieced-together, last minute attempt to give fans something substantial after five long years of waiting.
Let’s be clear — Minaj will forever hold her place as one of the greatest emcees of all time. But in recent years she seems to have lost that creative spark that defined her as one of the most innovative artists of the 2010’s. Even when transitioning into the more adult sounds of 2014’s “The Pinkprint,” she maintained her fine-tuned artistic vision that best captured her undeniable talents. With few exceptions, “Pink Friday 2” largely sidelines these talents for dumbed-down catering to trends that fill social platforms today — like the Lil Uzi Vert assisted “Everybody,” which has already begun circulating on TikTok. Rather than setting the trends, she seems to be desperately trying to keep up with them.
In the end, not even the fuschia sheen of Gag City can distract from the anticlimactic “Pink Friday 2.”
