Queen 2018 Album

Nicki Minaj

Her best album so far. It kicks off well with Nicki rapping at pace over the high tempo dancehall influenced 'Ganja Burn/s'. Some of the lyrics leave something to be desired on Biggie's, 'Just Playing (Dreams)' homage, but the ol' school feel it provides makes for a decent listen. 'Hard White' features a hard trap beat and is one of my favourites. From there the album gets into a run of poppy tunes. 'Bed' is poppy as shit but also catchy. I like it. The Weeknd fits the production on 'Thought I Knew You' well. The next two songs are some of the weaker songs on the album. 'Run & Hide' is a lil' one-paced. Swae Lee is annoying as it gets on 'Chun Swae'. Thankfully 'Chun-Li' returns to the hardcore hip hop feel and is one of her strongest songs. I had it on repeat when it first dropped. When she says, "Oh, I Get It", I always expect the "you Biggie and he's Puffy" line from 'Ether' to follow. 'Good Form' is another song with dope hard production. Again, you'd perhaps want some different lyrics to complement the thumping beat but it doesn't hurt it too much. 'Come See About Me' features no rapping and is straight-up R&B. A catchy hook. While I generally dislike Future, 'Sir' is another song with dope production. As mentioned at the beginning, this is her best album. There are a number of lovable beats with some originality. Without going back to check her previous albums, off the top of my head there seems to be more songs closer to hardcore hip hop, and most of the pop works better than what she's done in the past. The only thing I hate is 'Chun Swae' and that's thanks to the featuring artist. As always there are some cringy lyrics from Nicki but fewer than before and she is a good vocalist unlike the other biggest female rapper at the moment. 3-3.5/5 Best Tracks: Hard White, Bed, Chun-Li, Good Form, Come See About Me, Sir