Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday

This year, Minaj's had 15 songs appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with seven of them hitting the Top 40. It's a feat that few artists — regardless of genre — have accomplished. So a round of applause, please, for 25-year-old Nicki Minaj, who seems to have brought something different to the world of mainstream hip-hop. There is a lot of anticipation surrounding the release of Nicki Minaj’s debut CD "Pink Friday." And there should be…

I really had to listen to the whole album twice before I could write this review. I was torn at first, but the second time around, I liked it a bit better and I am not sure that the third time I will be singing along…

She has been on numerous track with other super stars such as Luda, Diddy- dirty Money, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Rick Ross, but while Minaj's proven she can jump on someone's song and get the job done, on her own songs, she struggles to make something to call her own. The album opens with "I'm the Best," where Minaj boasts about her standing as rap's top female act, and she does it again on "Roman's Revenge" and then again on "Did It On'em." Other tracks are also sprinkled with similar rhymes and the whole idea gets old.

She does has some A-list support from names like Eminem, Riri, Drake, Will.i.am, Kanye West and Natasha Bedingfield. The sad part is that Minaj is lost in her overconfidence and on the track with other artists, she is overshadowed.

Minaj doesn't really give the impression of being someone who's spent a great deal of time huddled around a table and arguing over the best way to appeal to mainstream. The standard hip-hop litany of childhood misery, involving a crack-addicted father who attempted to murder her mother by trying to burn down their house. She may have had a better outcome if she had made a hard-core OG rap album. This album is somewhat a disappointment just because of how Minaj keeps putting herself at the top of the game. Who is she trying to dethrone… Lil’ Kim? Or is Minaj trying to be Lady Gaga of the  Hip-Hop community???

It is not a must in your collection, but remember, it will be over played and soon you will be tired of hearing her….

I give it 2.5 spins out of 5 possible.