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Nicki Minaj is one of the strangest, yet most creative hip-hop artists that we've seen in years. "All these haters mad because I'm so established," Nicki Minaj boasts on her current single "Check it Out", which anyone would say after getting support from Lil Wayne. With her outrageous attitude and daring rhymes, Minaj is promoting a change to the way we look at hip-hop artists.
She has multiple alter-egos and often speaks in a British accent. She changes her brightly-colored wigs frequently and pops her eyes out of her head while rapping, but Minaj is more than an erratic artist. She is the key to the future of rap, daring to be different by giving physical life to her raps and backing it up with clever wordplay and delivery.
Lil Wayne discovered her in 2008 and guided her through recording her now infamous mixtape, Beam Me Up, Scotty. Fast-forward two years and Minaj is all over the radio, doing 13 high profile features in the last year and making countless mixtape appearances.
Similar to her label-mate Drake, Minaj has gained her fame by being featured in songs with popular artists.
Her hard work quickly paid off, with Minaj landing multiple magazine covers, three BET awards and a VMA nomination- all of this without dropping an album. Her rise to popularity has sparked an interest in female rap again, which makes one wonder, can Minaj revive rapping for females?
Minaj separates herself with her personality. There is no rapper out there that gives life to his or her music the way she does. It is rare that Minaj raps straightforwardly; her verses are always sprinkled with accents, voices and topics that rappers typically don't use.
Not only is Minaj breaking the stereotype of a female rapper, but of all rappers in general. She is proving that the negative preconceptions of female rappers shouldn't exist by delivering verses that cannot be compared to anyone, either male or female.
Her recent feature, "Monster", which included Kanye West, Rick Ross, Jay-Z and the unlikely partner Bon Iver, proved that she could not only hold her own, but coud teach her fellow rappers a few things about wordplay and vocal delivery.
Her fearless attitude is proving that a rapper can be successful without trying to sound tough. Rap is about expression, not stereotypes. Minaj is literally breaking down the typecast of the sex-filled female rapper with every feature she does. By daring to be different and breaking the mold, she is not reviving rap, but causing a change in the genre. Rap can be more than sex and drugs- it can have personality.
Nicki Minaj is just beginning to take over the rap world, and when her album Pink Friday drops on November 23, she will prove herself worthy of the change that she is triggering.
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