Somebody should tell Kimberly Jones (aka Lil Kim) that courtesy of iTunes, she has $9.99 coming her way. In my daily haste, post my morning prayer, a sudden urge to hear “Big Momma Thang” led me to download the 1996 studio album instead of search for it somewhere in a box between Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill” and the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. While I’m not always as quick to make such a sympathy purchase, I’m painfully acknowledging the fact that Kim as we knew her has outlived the glory days and has been usurped by this generation–the generation of Trey’s Angels, Lady Gaga’s Monsters and Nicki’s Barbz-as the Queen of Rap and Hip-Hop.
Let the record show that Nicki Minaj is on track to take this title to a whole new level. When you kiss Madonna, you’ve made it. I love(d) you Kimberly and I’d much rather see you succumb to an old-faithful in the industry like Trina, but Nicki has the game on lock – the keys: mainstream music, pop influenced tracks with European appeal and an affiliation with one of the hottest labels in business right now, Young Money & Cash Money Billionaires Entertainment (YCMB).
In spite of the mix-tape singles critics are still denying Nicki Minaj is a true rap/hip-hop artist. We’ve thrown her in a pop class of “rappers” that technically does not exist. The pop stuff is the money-maker though rap is her roots so I’ve excused Nicki because I can respect the hustle. Besides, there are traces of hip-hop in plenty of her music. If anything Nicki learned something from her predecessors. The naked truth is this: there’s money to be made by the “versatile” artist. I’m no musical critic of clout but “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded” is something for the people-all people. It has the grunge that was Nicki in 2009, the pop-star that is Nicki in 2012 and maybe the more R&B flavored Nicki on tracks like “Young Forever” and “Fire Burns”. Along with current musical phenoms like Lil Wayne and Drake, Nicki is the face of YCMB; for anyone on the cusp of puberty, they’re like the Jackson 5 were to our parents.
Side by side it’s interesting to analogize the two when in fact Nicki’s attempt to be a “creative artist” is probably more easily compared to Missy or Lady Gaga. [Damn music misses Missy!] Kim’s album sales during her darkest hour are right there with Nicki’s at her best, but where was Kim’s million-dollar Pepsi endorsement back in the early 2000s? Per popular demand, Nicki’s seems here to stay. Should Nicki have come out revering an artist who carved a path for her, an obvious role model from whom she borrowed aspects of style both lyrically and in regard to “fashion”? Hell yes. As a former convict who hasn’t had a “hit” album in almost a decade, should Lil Kim have embraced the opportunity to collaborate with a young, similar, up-and-coming female emcee? Duh. History reminds us that pride goeth before the fall. While we’re jammin to NOTORIOUS K.I.M. trying to grasp why in the world we were so raunchy in our teens, there’s an unsupervised child on the south side (pronounced souf’ side for street credibility) practicing choreography from the MTV-banned, infamous video “Stupid Hoe.”
Keep it poppin” like a bad back.
What Do You Think?
-Brian Riddick
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