nicki minaj
Ugh, where the fuc* do I begin? This woman is really the first on my list because of one word and it starts with a v— VERSATILITY. One of the most chameleonic artists music has ever seen by far. The MFN Ninja. Nicki’s best attribute to me are the colorful lyrics. You can always count on her to come on a track & say some shit never said before. I’ve made sure to start working it into my repertoire because I feel like it’s one of the reasons why she’s still on top today. Contrary to popular belief, Queen was her best album era. It still kills me that it never fully got its credit. She was under an immense amount of pressure around that time (2018), & still delivered a classic sounding, solid BODY OF WORK. Her tenacity to deal w/ the pesters that accompany being a mainstream artist was on full display & she wasn’t scared to show all sides of herself. I remember watching the interview she did w/ Zane Lowe where she cried & being like “she is not deadass..” I didn’t understand her frustration but as time went on I grew to. The “take-it-or-leave-it” shibboleth that she maneuvers this industry w/, serves as a lubricant when digesting her eccentric content. Nothing ever comes off as untrue to her. In fact, being out of bounds for Nicki is IN BOUND. “Flow sick. I’ll slap a patient” (Up In Flames) is a line from her that I chuckle at every time it pops up in my brain, but did she lie? If I had to use one word to describe her flow it would be adaptable. Almost every song you hear her on sounds natural or “just-right” for lack of a better term. I impute that fact to the preservation of freedom within her creative choices. Even from the very beginning. “Can Anybody Hear Me?” and “Itty Bitty Piggy” being on the same anthology was a CLEAR indication that she wasn’t one of them. She can speed it up, then slow it down, then speed it up again WHILE slowing it down. The name Minaj definitely precedes her because she fuc*s the beat every single time on god. I probably know every lyric, from the mixtapes ESPECIALLY. There will never be another or anything close. Ever.