Minaj became the first artist ever to have seven songs within the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. Her second single, "Your Love", reached number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making her the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002. Minaj also became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List.
One month after the release of Pink Friday, Minaj's album gained a platinum certification in the United States. Minaj is known for collaborating with numerous artists and guest raps on many popular singles and I feel that she is perfect to analyse because of the success she has had in the R&B and hip hop world.
Rihanna ft Nicki Minaj - Raining Men
This was the first song I ever heard with Nicki Minaj in it and it caught my attention straight away with the catchy beat. It starts with Rihanna singing and then Minaj comes in half way through with her rap. What I like is how different she is, not only does she rap which is still quite uncommon in the music industry, she makes the music her own. I also really like the lyrics, it shows very feminist views and that there are always more men if you are not happy with the one you are with now!
"Ladies don't worry 'cause they got plenty more
they be falling like the rain so we ain't running out
oh it's raining men girl, whatcha worry 'bout."
Although there isn't currently a video for this song, I think it is important to mention as it shows Minaj's attitude and feelings. In this song and others too we see her to be quite an independent woman which can be seen through her use of language, sometimes quite taboo, and the way she speaks about herself and others;
"Give me dome, dome, d-d-d-d-d dome, dome, dome
I ain't trippin' on yo money, money long, long, long
Got my own TV production company
So tell Harpo to hit me Celie"
This basically states that Minaj makes her own money and doesn't need any from any man. She shows her attitute and values in that she works for herself and brings in all the money on her own, without the help from any male. I think this is a good attitude for a rapper to have, especially a female one who can sometimes be mocked in the music industry by their male competition. To set out her attitudes in one of her first songs she manages to set out a strong, feminist image to her audience and peers.
Will I Am ft Nicki Minaj and Cheryl Cole - Check It Out
This song, written by Will.I.Am and Minaj, samples the 1979 hit single, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. After it's release, it debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 78 and number 48 on the Canadian Hot 100. It appears on Pink Friday, though it was not released as a single from the album. The UK version also features additional vocals from Will.I.Am's close friend and British singer Cheryl Cole.
In this video, the idea of Minaj being a supreme and independent woman shows again through her use of lyrics; she calls herself a 'savage' and that 'haters you can kill yourself'. This shows that she does not have time for 'haters' and that they can say what they want but she knows that she is better than them.
There are lots of close ups in this video, something that our group took into consideration when planning our music video. Rich Lee, the director of this video, reminds me of Ray Kay, the director I analysed for the Auteur Theory. This is because the whole video is filmed in a studio and is really quite simple, yet very eye-catching because of the bright colours and futuristic, unique clothing worn by Will, Minaj and Cole.
Nicki Minaj ft Drake - Moment 4 Life
This song was produced by T-Minus and written by both artists. The song is inspired by a story Minaj created, in which two children grow up together sharing the same dream of becoming famous rappers, and create this song while living out their dreams together. It is Minaj's biggest single to date, topping the Billboard Rap Songs and the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, as well as charting worldwide including the UK. Once again lots of close up shots are used to show Minaj on her own and also two shot close ups of Minaj and Drake together. There is a large use of mid shots and establishing shots. We have used lots of midshots in our music video so the audience get a clear picture of HB (Jack) and his image. There is also a tilted angle shot which shows Drake on the balcony. We have incorporated this shot into our video when showing HB walking out of school on his way to 'better places'. Also, lots of fading into new shots have been used which we also used in our video to help the flow of the video better.
Richard Dyer said: 'How we are seen determines how we are treated, how we treat others is based on how we see them. How we see them comes from representation'. I agree with this and think it comes into Nicki Minaj's choice of lifestyle and how she wants the mass audience to see her. Lots of people respect her because of her lyrics. Her lyrics are realistic and I think that is what make people look up to her;
"shout out to my haters, sorry that you couldn't faze me Aint being cocky, we just vindicated Best believe that when we done this moment will be syndicated" I think it is very clever how she has reminded her 'haters' that she is not bothered how they see her or how they feel about her. What is even more clever is how she has stated that she isn't 'cocky'. I feel that lots of rappers come across as quite arrogant through their lyrics. Many rappers such as Wiz Khalifa mention drugs a lot in their songs and I don't think it is something that should be influenced among their audience.
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