Nicki Minaj’s new music video shows that her alter ego, Roman, is not as creative
By Michael Palumbo
Jan. 26, 2012 11:46 p.m.
Nicki Minaj, riding the wave of her breakout success from her debut album, “Pink Friday,” released a new track this week called “Stupid Hoe,” and within the first 24 hours got 4.8 million hits on VEVO, breaking the website’s record for the most-viewed music video premiere.
So what’s so amazing about Minaj’s new music video? Nothing. What went wrong?
First, the song is uninspired and not catchy. Minaj has built a career for herself by creating multiple personas, pitches and voices, sometimes within the same verse or hook. In melding these different vocal arrangements, she delivers weird yet catchy lyrics in much of her other work, in which she has, for example, rhymed Sri Lanka with Willy Wonka. This song, however, seems to be a rant about the song’s title, which is repeated more times than “We found love in a hopeless place” in Rihanna’s hit song “We Found Love.”
In fact, that’s the entire chorus: “You a Stupid Hoe/You a, you a stupid hoe.” Needless to say, there’s not much original songwriting on display here. And to whom is this even directed? I’m guessing it’s about someone related to her rumored boyfriend and hype man, SB (or Scaff Beezy) who is mentioned in the song.
Perhaps it’s an old flame, as the lyrics suggest that Minaj is the Angelina to the song’s Jennifer (somehow I don’t see Scaff Beezy as a Brad Pitt). Regardless, the song basically talks about how much richer and more successful Minaj is compared to this other woman.
Second, the music video contradicts the song’s message: While Minaj claims that she is better than this “stupid” woman, the entire music video exploits and hyper-sexualizes the singer. At one point Minaj is in leather and lace crawling around a cage like an erotic animal. I think the director was aiming to conceive Minaj as some sort of predator that was too dangerous to be unleashed, but it ends up looking even more inappropriate.
Minaj’s legs and cleavage are also displayed prominently throughout the video. Minaj is definitely more creative than this, as evidenced in her previous work. Why has she resorted to objectifying herself?
Third, two words: Hype Williams. Maybe this artistic choice can be attributed to Williams, the director behind this grossly overproduced mess. As a music video director who became prominent after directing artists such as 2Pac and TLC, he has recently made creative choices that revolve around bright backdrops, vibrant color schemes and lightning quick editing that is so fast and disorienting there’s an epilepsy warning before Williams’ similarly manic music video for Kanye West’s “All of the Lights.”
What seemed like a somewhat inspired choice in “All of the Lights” now just seems like Williams takes the content of songs very literally. It’s as if he sat listening to these respective songs and thought, “”˜All of the Lights’? Let’s have a lot of flashing lights displaying the song lyrics. “˜Stupid Hoe?’ Let’s have her look as such.”
Minaj is typically a very colorful person, from her vocabulary to her hair, but the innovation that is usually embedded within her raps has manifested instead on the bright walls of this vapid music video.
The song is featured in her new album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.” While not a re-release, it’s an album of new songs from “Roman,” which refers to Minaj’s alter ego, Roman Zolanski.
Maybe this is an album akin to Beyonce’s “I Am… Sasha Fierce,” which is actually the work of her alter ego. But if this song is any indication, Roman’s lyrics, musicality and style is twice as crazed and angry and half as catchy and imaginative. Maybe Minaj should call the album, “Roman’s Regression.”
Do you think Nicki Minaj is making poor creative choices, or are you eagerly anticipating her new album? Email Palumbo at [email protected].
