base talk Pitchfork: PF2 6.5 "mixed bag," "creative plateau," "hollow"

[suburbannature]

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/nicki-minaj-pink-friday-2/

 

Ties for her lowest score by them.

 

Quote

One of the key problems here began with 2022’s post-“Anaconda” single “Super Freaky Girl.” The chimera of a Rick James song that was famously sampled by MC Hammer and newly manipulated by Dr. Luke and Hipgnosis was proof that mining several generations of nostalgia was a big financial win—no matter that the well-known chorus threatened to drown out Minaj’s playful sex-kitten verses. Though such a path is inevitable for many artists as mining IP becomes an increasingly big business, the choice to include clips from well-worn songs like Junior Senior’s “Move Your Feet” (on the club track “Everybody,” which is at least a grower), Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” (on “My Life”) and, least forgivably, Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” a song so widely sampled it’s essentially wallpaper, paradoxically suggests a shaky belief in her own ability to create hits by her talent alone. Even the most cynical read here—profit maximization—doesn’t exactly answer why one of the most creative rappers alive would draw up such a hollow plan.

Quote

The other specter haunting the background of Pink Friday 2 is Minaj’s ostensible rivals—Cardi B, as well as all the other rap girlies who don’t properly bend the knee. Minaj is a deft and prickly battle rapper, but her sense of fun can curdle into resentment, as on “Fallin 4 U,” a shiv of a Latto diss track that includes the curiously sneering line, “These ******* gotta shake they ass to show sex appeal.” Minaj should be taking a victory lap—she is one of the most important rappers of this century—and yet she seems to feel like she has to keep reiterating her position and punching down, hitting a low point on the Waka Flocka-sampling “FTCU” when she raps, “Stay in your Tory lane, *****, I’m not Iggy.”

It feels oddly retrograde and beneath her, particularly when, on that same track, she fires up a bar like, “Come on *****, I just put a milli on my Richie—minus like fifty, mine was nine-fifty, sissy.”

Quote

Perhaps it’s just a career crossroads—grief and frustration can fuel a creative plateau as frequently as it produces classic albums—but one wonders if, somehow, ascending the throne has complicated her ability to scrap. As she sings earnestly in the first few minutes of the album: “Rich, yes, but are you happy?”

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by suburbannature

[popmusicisdead]

FAKE NEWS!

This is wrong. Real review comes on Monday

[Bandito]

Honestly surprised it’s not lower… 

[Domination]

Generous

[suburbannature]

Just now, Bandito said:

Honestly surprised it’s not lower… 

The review is pretty scathing - seems like the executive editor brought up the points a bit from the one submitted by the reviewer. 

[justin.]

And that’s a very generous score 

[Bandito]

Just now, suburbannature said:

The review is pretty scathing - seems like the executive editor brought up the points a bit from the one submitted by the reviewer. 

Yeah, that was exactly my surprise. For something so scathing and brutal (yet quite true), I was thinking it would be around 5.

[punisher]

only the queef of rap can do this!! 

[Cain]

4 minutes ago, suburbannature said:

The review is pretty scathing - seems like the executive editor brought up the points a bit from the one submitted by the reviewer. 

 

1 minute ago, Bandito said:

Yeah, that was exactly my surprise. For something so scathing and brutal (yet quite true), I was thinking it would be around 5.

The person reviewing is not the one scoring it. All the Pitchfork staff scores the album and the average of that becomes the eventual score

[suburbannature]

2 minutes ago, punisher said:

only the queef of rap can do this!! 

Invasion of Privacy received above an 8.5, right?

[Katamari]

This is shocking 

[punisher]

1 minute ago, suburbannature said:

Invasion of Privacy received above an 8.5, right?

yup 8.7!

Edited December 11, 2023 by punisher

[suburbannature]

1 minute ago, Cain said:

 

The person reviewing is not the one scoring it. All the Pitchfork staff scores the album and the average of that becomes the eventual score

Not quite - one of their reviewers told me in the past that the writer submits a score with their review but that the editor has final say in the score. That's why you see the discrepancy at times. 

[Sannie]

Quote

Minaj should be taking a victory lap—she is one of the most important rappers of this century—and yet she seems to feel like she has to keep reiterating her position and punching down, hitting a low point on the Waka Flocka-sampling “FTCU” when she raps, “Stay in your Tory lane, *****, I’m not Iggy.”

!!!!!!! Someone who claims she is the best female rapper of all time or is the Queen of Rap constantly attacking other people does not come off as someone who is confident with their position; it comes off the exact opposite: insecurity and sadness. If you have to constantly say you are the queen, are you saying it because you believe it, or because you are trying to convince yourself?

[justin.]

Oh wow, just found out Latto’s album got the same score! I guess this is what she’s referring to with all the lyrics about other girls wanting to be her! 

[Diet Pepsi]

Quote

 a song so widely sampled it’s essentially wallpaper, paradoxically suggests a shaky belief in her own ability to create hits by her talent alone. 

CLOCK THAT TEA

[Diet Pepsi]

7 minutes ago, justin. said:

Oh wow, just found out Latto’s album got the same score! I guess this is what she’s referring to with all the lyrics about other girls wanting to be her! 

spent all that time bullying Latto & calling her a dud only for the tables to turn 

[punisher]

how was she so confident 

[suburbannature]

2020s Female Rap Albums by Pitchfork

 

 

8.0 - Hood Hottest Princess (Sexxy Red)

7.8 - Good News (Megan Thee Stallion)

7.8 - Planet Her (Doja Cat)

7.6 - Like..? (Ice Spice)

7.5 - Anyways, Life's Great (Glorilla)

7.4 - Something for Thee Hotties (Megan Thee Stallion)

7.4 - Nightmare Vacation (Rico Nasty)

7.3 - You Still Here, Ho? (Flo Milli)

7.3 - City on Lock (City Girls)

7.1 - Traumazine (Megan Thee Stallion)

7.1 - Las Ruinas (Rico Nasty)

7.0 - Suga (Megan Thee Stallion)

6.8 - Raw (City Girls)

6.5 - 777 (Latto)

6.5 - Pink Friday 2 (Nicki Minaj)

5.9 - Scarlet (Doja Cat)

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by suburbannature

[Bhabylon]

Quote

the album’s intention is muddled through its scattershot production, which sounds less like genre innovation and more like an insidious ploy to worm its way into as many crevices on TikTok as possible.

 

Quote

one wonders if, somehow, ascending the throne has complicated her ability to scrap

The album is a CHOP!

Edited December 11, 2023 by Bhabylon

[Big Bad Wolf]

It's a bad album, but what's to be expected of an artist who always chases trends? Nicki is not an album artist, she's a single/feature artist. All of her albums are jam packed with filler and hit chasing sounds.

[justin.]

2 minutes ago, Pink Whitney said:

spent all that time bullying Latto & calling her a dud only for the tables to turn 

Should have spent less time tweeting and more time actually working on her “industry changing” album!

 

[punisher]

2 minutes ago, suburbannature said:

2020s Female Rap Albums by Pitchfork

 

 

7.8 - Good News (Megan Thee Stallion)

7.8 - Planet Her (Doja Cat)

7.6 - Like..? (Ice Spice)

7.5 - Anyways, Life's Great (Glorilla)

7.4 - Something for Thee Hotties (Megan Thee Stallion)

7.3 - You Still Here, Ho? (Flo Milli)

7.3 - City on Lock (City Girls)

7.1 - Traumazine (Megan Thee Stallion)

7.0 - Suga (Megan Thee Stallion)

6.8 - Raw (City Girls)

6.5 - 777 (Latto)

6.5 - Pink Friday 2 (Nicki Minaj)

5.9 - Scarlet (Doja Cat)

 

 

 

HOOD HOTTEST PRINCESS - 8.0

[suburbannature]

Just now, punisher said:

HOOD HOTTEST PRINCESS - 8.0

Added

 

[punisher]

 

not them trying to make excuses agdgeusbsvavsh