I sort of feel this album may have been more defensible had she done an I Am/Sasha Fierce and formalised its split personality.
The first three tracks on this are astonishing but even the rest of the rap section can't keep up the momentum. Really not that bothered about Beez In The Trap, she can't really do slower and sparser.
The second half is mostly useless, you've got to admire these dudes for their ability to make awesome female MCs over house music seem like a terrible idea. I wish she'd found a better use for those rapidfire raygun noises on Pound The Alarm, but good god certainly not the chorus of Pound The Alarm. Otherwise, it's not that the sugary stuff can't work (Super Bass ffs) but here it just doesn't.
Gun Shots > anything on the first half though, but then I will happily take dancehall Nicki over all other Nickis. It reminds me a bit of Lazar Morgan's One By One, that whole 80s yacht dancehall vibe. Shame no one actually gave it a proper dancehall beat, even a gentle one, but I guess a suitable remix will be along sooner rather than later.
― Homosexual Satan Wasp (Matt DC), Thursday, 5 April 2012 11:41 (twelve years ago) link
the track she did at the grammy's sounds muuuuuch better on the album... really cool drums and she pulls off the chorus really well. it's prob one of the best few songs on the album.
― J0rdan S., Friday, March 30, 2012 11:18 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this is otm. track is a total earworm
a lot of the rest of this i really dont care abt in the least
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 5 April 2012 14:40 (twelve years ago) link
okay hold on, did she seriously name her second album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
very imaginative, Nicki
― God, Music and Romeo and Juliet (DJP), Thursday, 5 April 2012 14:47 (twelve years ago) link
it's basically the same thing that gaga did with 'fame monster'
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 5 April 2012 15:45 (twelve years ago) link
at least that's kind of a bland low level vapidity compared to the machine gun spray of idiocy on "Roman Reloaded" the song, which features the lyric "the ad is global, your ad was local/ where we shot it was a lot of different agriculturals" (xpost)
― ferrante's inferranteno (some dude), Thursday, 5 April 2012 15:47 (twelve years ago) link
not really, Fame Monster was an expanded edition of Fame and then Monster was just an EP of the new songs. Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded is a follow-up album with a sequel-type title.
― ferrante's inferranteno (some dude), Thursday, 5 April 2012 15:48 (twelve years ago) link
fame monster was an 8 song, 35 minute album -- shit was not an EP
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 5 April 2012 15:49 (twelve years ago) link
Initially planned to be included on a re-release of Gaga's debut studio album, The Fame, she announced that the eight tracks would be included on a standalone release, saying that she thought the re-release was too expensive and that the albums were each conceptually different, describing them as Yin and yang respectively. A Super Deluxe edition of The Fame Monster including The Fame and additional merchandise, including a lock of her wig, was released on December 15, 2009.
I won a copy of this and, while it didn't have the lock of wig hair (thank fuck) it did have both the original album and the eight followup songs
― God, Music and Romeo and Juliet (DJP), Thursday, 5 April 2012 15:52 (twelve years ago) link
― J0rdan S., Thursday, April 5, 2012 11:49 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark
a) why are we still having this conversation about what arbitrarily is labelled an EP, especially after the Dawn Richard joint and b) you're missing the point that Fame Monster was packaged w/ the first album and Roman Reloaded was not
― ferrante's inferranteno (some dude), Thursday, 5 April 2012 15:55 (twelve years ago) link
you're missing the point that Fame Monster was packaged w/ the first album and Roman Reloaded was not
well, if you bought the super deluxe edition
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 5 April 2012 15:57 (twelve years ago) link
i didn't say exclusively packaged
― ferrante's inferranteno (some dude), Thursday, 5 April 2012 15:59 (twelve years ago) link
like you KNOW i'm aware of the ridiculousness of the semantics around 'EP's in the record industry these days. call it a mini album if you want, but that's not even what my post was about.
― ferrante's inferranteno (some dude), Thursday, 5 April 2012 16:00 (twelve years ago) link
also, even though it was released as a standalone release, The Fame Monster was conceived as an addendum to The Fame; from what I can tell Pink Friday... Roman Reloaded is a followup album with a really stupid, lazy name
― God, Music and Romeo and Juliet (DJP), Thursday, 5 April 2012 16:05 (twelve years ago) link
it's very Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
― ferrante's inferranteno (some dude), Thursday, 5 April 2012 16:08 (twelve years ago) link
It's a terrible title, at any rate.
I've seen references to the album for the last couple of weeks, and only today have I discovered that it's not a deluxe/repackaged version of her debut.
― Cuba Pudding, Jr. (jaymc), Thursday, 5 April 2012 20:05 (twelve years ago) link
we already know you don't pay much attention jaymc!
this album is at least half terrible but weirdly i don't feel like that matters in the slightest, it's still one of my favourite releases of the year: what matters is how high the highs are
YES MAYBE JUST A TOUCH OF TOURETTE'SGO GET MY WIGS TERENCE GET MY BARRETTES
― lex pretend, Thursday, 5 April 2012 23:33 (twelve years ago) link
well j0rdan pays attention and he seemed confused about whether this was a whole new album as recently as 2 weeks ago so it's not just jaymc or anything
― some dude, Friday, 6 April 2012 00:56 (twelve years ago) link
why would you think anything otherwise? the album title is like designed to make people think it's some kind of 2.0 deluxe reissue
― Mississippi Butt Hurt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 6 April 2012 01:19 (twelve years ago) link
i mean i remember it being very clearly set up as a standalone 2nd album even before the title was announced so i can only imagine but yeah i probably would've made a similar assumption. it'd be a long window of time between the original and re-release, but there was an even longer gap between the Katy Perry album and the recent deluxe edition so it's plausible.
― some dude, Friday, 6 April 2012 01:26 (twelve years ago) link
beez in the trap is dope imo good look for kenoe too
― D-40, Friday, 6 April 2012 01:35 (twelve years ago) link
Sadly I don't think the highs are actually high enough to compensate for all the lows. Even if you stripped most of the second half out it'd still be a bit on the patchy side.
I like the bits where she's talking about doing horrible things with her penis though.
― Homosexual Satan Wasp (Matt DC), Friday, 6 April 2012 09:41 (twelve years ago) link
I suppose the real keepers here are:
Roman HolidayCome On A ConeI Am The LeaderHOV LaneGun ShotStupid Hoe
The rest of it is okayish to actively terrible. So there's an amazing EP in there. Just wish it could keep the bonkers momentum of the first three tracks.
There's not really any reason why the pop stuff shouldn't work with Nicki but, Gun Shot aside, it's the inability to come by any sung chorus that doesn't completely blow that kills it.
― Homosexual Satan Wasp (Matt DC), Friday, 6 April 2012 11:54 (twelve years ago) link
Beez in the trap belongs there
What does that mean that the highs dont compensate for the lows? Like that makes sense til you think about it
― D-40, Friday, 6 April 2012 14:44 (twelve years ago) link
well, if an album has tracks you hate, you might look past that and have a warm view of the album if you think the better tracks are really amazing.
― some dude, Friday, 6 April 2012 14:46 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah but p much everyone is saying this album is super inconsistent
― D-40, Friday, 6 April 2012 14:59 (twelve years ago) link
Its like hes implying that the good songs could be even better and that would somehow make up for the misses
― D-40, Friday, 6 April 2012 15:00 (twelve years ago) link
yeah. and?
― some dude, Friday, 6 April 2012 15:01 (twelve years ago) link
looool
― Cuba Pudding, Jr. (jaymc), Friday, 6 April 2012 15:04 (twelve years ago) link
― some dude, Friday, April 6, 2012 10:01 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i dont really get that. what does he want the good songs to sound like? IMO the good songs on here are pretty much great nicki tracks.
i guess what i'm getting at is something similar to what you complain about w/ people complaining about rap albums being 'too long,' where its like, i'd rather get more bang for my buck -- its like hes trying to reduce the album to a 'yes' or 'no' when really its, 'part yes, part no'
― D-40, Friday, 6 April 2012 16:20 (twelve years ago) link
i would understand the excitement over the first half if all the songs were as fun and crazy as "Stupid Hoe" and "Come On A Cone" but personally i think "Roman Holiday" and "Beez In The Trap" are worse than the pop stuff and the other rap songs are eh
― some dude, Friday, 6 April 2012 16:26 (twelve years ago) link
"hov lane" is the one that secretly holds the first half together
― lex pretend, Friday, 6 April 2012 16:31 (twelve years ago) link
i'm pro beez in the trap
― sisilafami, Friday, 6 April 2012 16:37 (twelve years ago) link
lex totally otm, surprised that track isn't being highlighted more. it lacks dick talk (maybe? i can't remember) but is the best of the rap tracks imo
― rob, Friday, 6 April 2012 16:46 (twelve years ago) link
^^ this
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 April 2012 16:47 (twelve years ago) link
beez is way better than 'stupid hoe' imo
― D-40, Friday, 6 April 2012 17:04 (twelve years ago) link
"hov lane" is the fastest rap track, totally leavens the sparseness of "beez in the trap" and "roman reloaded", but it's not as crazed as the first three so it's not like you have to be in the mood for it. plus the amazing beat switch-up at the end.
I'M OUT IN SPAIN RUNNING GAME WITH THE MATADORI'M IN MY OWN LANE, YOU AIN'T IN MY CATEGOR
― lex pretend, Friday, 6 April 2012 17:07 (twelve years ago) link
like it's the CRUNKEST joint on the album by some distance
actually there are loads of great beat switch-ups here - the "beez in the trap" bridge where it actually starts sounding like bees, the bass drop in "come on a cone" etc
― lex pretend, Friday, 6 April 2012 17:10 (twelve years ago) link
am i the only one who is stanning for "I Am Youtr Leader" beng the best track
― #yolo contendere (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 6 April 2012 17:15 (twelve years ago) link
NICKI DENIM NICKI LINEN is certainly one of the hooks i have stuck in my head all the time now. it's top 5 for sure but as far as best goes, "gun shot" exists
― lex pretend, Friday, 6 April 2012 17:18 (twelve years ago) link
HOV lane is my fav so far yeah, I love that really big timpani hit at the start of the chorus, like the hulk just landed after a 10 story drop
― dayo, Friday, 6 April 2012 17:33 (twelve years ago) link
anyway deej I get what you're saying but maybe it's more of an argument for 'the album is dead in 2012'
― dayo, Friday, 6 April 2012 17:34 (twelve years ago) link
btw an aventador is apparently a type of lambo
http://www.aventador.com/images/gallery/aventador-3-4.jpg
― dayo, Friday, 6 April 2012 17:41 (twelve years ago) link
― #yolo contendere (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, April 6, 2012 1:15 PM (56 minutes ago) Bookmark
i would be with you but that ross verse almost ruins the entire song
― J0rdan S., Friday, 6 April 2012 18:13 (twelve years ago) link
Listening the album a second time now and it is still jarring when "Starships" shows up, signaling he changeover, even though I knew it was coming.
― Look at how funky he is! (jer.fairall), Friday, 6 April 2012 18:23 (twelve years ago) link
weezy's guest spot is by far the worst tho
― dayo, Friday, 6 April 2012 18:25 (twelve years ago) link
i'd still take it over anything on "champion"
― J0rdan S., Friday, 6 April 2012 18:25 (twelve years ago) link
hah I liked jeezy's verse
― dayo, Friday, 6 April 2012 18:26 (twelve years ago) link
Champion ain't bad.
― Look at how funky he is! (jer.fairall), Friday, 6 April 2012 18:27 (twelve years ago) link
nicki's verse on "champion" is so powerful that it enables you to tune out everyone else's
― lex pretend, Friday, 6 April 2012 18:30 (twelve years ago) link