Pink Friday is the debut studio album by Trinidadian-born American rapper Nicki Minaj. It was released on November 22, 2010 by Young Money, Cash Money and Universal Motown. After signing a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment in 2009, Minaj began planning the album that same year and work continued into 2010. Minaj enlisted a variety of producers whose efforts resulted in a primarily hip hop record, which sees additional influences from R&B and pop music. The album features guest vocals from Eminem, Rihanna, Drake, will.i.am, Kanye West and Natasha Bedingfield.

The album was promoted with eight singles, including the internationally successful single 'Super Bass', and US BillboardHot 100 top 40 singles 'Your Love', 'Check It Out', 'Right Thru Me', 'Moment 4 Life', and 'Fly'. Minaj also supported the album with a five-date promotional concert tour during October 2010.

After a much anticipated release as the result of Minaj's extensive featured appearances on the singles of other artists, Pink Friday debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 375,000 copies in its first week.^[1] It ultimately reached number one on the chart and also charted within the top 20 in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.^[2] As of February 2018, the album has sold two million traditional copies in the United States.^[3] The album has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined album sales, track sales, and song streams equivalent of three million album-sale units. Pink Friday was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012, alongside Minaj's other nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance for the single 'Moment 4 Life'.

• 5Release and promotion
• 10Charts

Background[edit]

After a major record label bidding war, Young Money Entertainment announced on August 31, 2009 that Minaj had been released from a 360 deal with the label in which she retains and owns all of her 360 rights – including merchandising, sponsorships, endorsements, touring and publishing.^[4] Sessions for the album began in 2009 with a tentative release set for the second quarter of 2010. Minaj stated in an MTV interview that 'Married in the Club' was set to be the lead single from the album and was slated for a November 2009 release.^[5] Plans for the single were cancelled and Minaj explained in a February 2010 interview with MTV that she had scrapped the previous material and began recording again from scratch. Minaj explained, 'I have songs that where I am now, they aren't a great representation of me to where I'm at musically. I wanna start from scratch but I do have my single and it'll be out.'

Nicki Minaj spoke about the great importance of the album to her and all females in hip-hop in an interview with V103's Greg Street, stating; 'They won't look to sign other female rappers because they'll say, 'Her buzz was so crazy and if she couldn't do it, then no one can do it.' And I don't want that to happen, so I'm doing this as well for all the girls. I hope that with the success of the album—because I know it will be successful, I believe it will be successful—I hope that this opens doors for all of the girls everywhere. Even as far as I've come right now, it's a testament in my mind,' she said. 'So I hope the female rappers will understand how big it is, just for our culture, that the album does well.'^[6]

Recording and production[edit]

Recording sessions for the album took place at several recording locations, including 25 Sound Studios in Detroit, Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles, and Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California. Hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz confirmed his collaboration with Minaj for the album, with Minaj discussing a song 'Catch Me', that she described as 'moody' and 'mellow futuristic' which later became a bonus track on the album.^[7][8] Minaj also confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that The Black Eyed Peas member and record producer will.i.am contributed production to the album. She stated in the interview that: 'The album is much more emotional than you anticipate, which is a great thing. And I know women are gonna connect to the album so much. I felt like for so many years I was the girl who did the catchy little raps, and it's time for me now to tell my story, and in telling my story, I'm really telling every girl's story. We all go through the same thing. So the album is gonna feel very personal to every female.'^[9] Hip-hop artist and producer Kanye West was also confirmed for the album.^[10] Producer Bangladesh also contributed to the album.^[11]

In an interview with Interview Minaj stated that she would be toning down her sex appeal for the album, stating: 'I made a conscious decision to try to tone down the sexiness, I want people—especially young girls—to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on sex appeal. You've got to have something else to go with that.'^[12] The song 'Right Thru Me', which Minaj described as a 'standout' track of the album, was confirmed for the album with Minaj stating, 'It's not gonna come right now. It'll come closer to when the album drops, but it's a really, really pretty song. Everyone's gonna like it. It's just really insightful but in a very conversational kind of way.'^[13] In an interview with 95.8 Capital FM, Barbadian recording artist Rihanna stated that after the two collaborated on 'Raining Men' from her album Loud, that they would be teaming up together for a possible second collaboration on Minaj's Pink Friday album.^[14] On an unexpected Ustream on October 25, 2010, Minaj discussed a song she had recently recorded with fellow label-mate Drake, which later ended up on the album and became a single.^[15] Minaj revealed exclusively to Rap-Up that she collaborated with rapper Eminem on a Swizz Beatz-produced track titled 'Roman's Revenge' which references Minaj's alter-ego Roman Zolanski and features Eminem's alter-ego Slim Shady.^[16][17]

Music and lyrics[edit]

'Your Love' is a mid-tempo hip-hop, pop, and R&B song, with an auto-tuned chorus.^[18] It samples the instrumentals and background vocals of Annie Lennox's cover version of 'No More I Love You's' by The Lover Speaks, with the addition of additional bass, drum-loops and hip-hop backbeats.^[19] 'Roman's Revenge' features American rapper Eminem; the song includes both rappers exchanging bars over a 'spastic beat' produced by Swizz Beatz.^[20] Lyrically, 'Roman's Revenge' has been described as 'unrelenting',^[21] 'bonkers',^[22] 'angry'^[23] and 'outrageous'.^[24] 'Did It On'em' is a hardcore hip hop and post-dubstep song that has instrumentally been described as having a massive, ungainly beat.^[25][26] The lyrics speak of Minaj winning over her competition, by saying she 'shitted on 'em' or 'pissed on 'em.'^[27]

'Right Thru Me' is styled with pop-rap tones, and has an electronic beat, while being influenced by R&B.^[19][28][29] Lyrically, the song describes someone who wonders aloud about how a lover can see the real her.^[19][30] Lyrically, 'Moment 4 Life', is about a desire to maintain a feeling of accomplishment, as Drake follows behind Minaj and raps the same theme of enjoying the moment.^[31] Straying away from the standard rap song construction of three verses and a hook, Nicki performs a brain-dump of sorts on the track, spitting as if she’s making a speech to both her fans and detractors.^[32] 'Check It Out' features the nearly constant repetition of the piano and vocal hook from The Buggles 1979 classic, 'Video Killed the Radio Star', which is famous for being the first video ever played on MTV.^[21] 'Super Bass' utilizes electronic music and pop in its composition, while Minaj raps over a hip hop beat,^[33][34] Minaj explained the song's concept, stating: 'Super Bass' is about the boy that you are crushing over, [..] And you kind of want to get your mack on, but you're taking the playful approach.'^[35]

Singles[edit]

'Massive Attack' was released on April 13, 2010 through digital distribution. The song was a distinct change from Minaj's previous work on mixtapes and features, thus receiving mixed to positive reviews from critics, commending lyrical content and distinctiveness, but critiquing that it did not fit her 'Barbie' persona well. The song bubbled under the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 22, and peaked at number 65 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. 'Massive Attack' was initially announced as the album's lead single, however, after the single's poor chart performance, Minaj dethroned its lead single status and declared that it would not be featured on the album.^[36]

'Your Love' was released as the album's first official US single on June 1, 2010 and as the first single in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2010. Initially, the song had never been planned for release, but due to abounding airplay it was mastered and used as the follow-up to 'Massive Attack'. The song peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, number four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and topped the Hot Rap Songs chart for eight consecutive weeks. Minaj became the first female artist to top the Hot Rap Songs chart unaccompanied since 2002. It also charted in Canada and the UK.^[37]

'Check It Out' was released on September 3, 2010.^[38] It was a joint single from the album between will.i.am and Minaj.^[39] A music video for the song was directed by Rich Lee and was released on October 25, 2010.^[40] The song has since peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. 'Right Thru Me' was released on September 24, 2010,^[41] and officially impacted urban radio on October 5, 2010.^[42] A music video directed by Diane Martel was released for the single on October 27, 2010.^[43] The song peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.

'Moment 4 Life', which features Drake, officially impacted US Rhythmic radio on December 7, 2010,^[44] as the album's fourth single. The music video for 'Moment 4 Life' was released on January 27, 2011.^[45] The song has peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Rap Songs charts. 'Roman's Revenge' featuring Eminem was released as a promotional single to iTunes on October 30, 2010.^[46] A re-worked version of 'Roman's Revenge' featuring Lil Wayne was released to the iTunes Store on January 19, 2011.^[47]

'Super Bass' was released as the album's fifth single and officially impacted radio on April 5, 2011.^[48] It was released to iTunes in some markets on May 13, 2011.^[49][50] The song became an international top ten hit. In its seventh week on the Billboard Hot 100, the song had peaked at number 10, making it Minaj's first top ten placement as a lead artist.^[51] The song has since climbed and peaked at number 3 on that chart. The song's title is also used as part of the title of a UK deluxe edition of the album, called the 'Super Bass edition'.^[52]

'Did It On'em' was sent to Urban radio on April 7, 2011, as the album's sixth single.^[53] The song peaked at number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at numbers 3 and 4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Rap Songs charts respectively. 'Girls Fall like Dominoes' was released in Australia on April 11, 2011,^[54] and in the United Kingdom on April 15, 2011.^[55]

'Fly', which features Rihanna, was officially released as the album's eighth and final single. It was sent to US rhythmic radio and to Top 40/Mainstream radio on August 30, 2011.^[56][57] The song has since peaked at number 19 on Billboard Hot 100 as well as in the top 20 in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Release and promotion[edit]

On July 8, 2010, Minaj announced via Twitter that the album would be released on November 23, 2010.^[58] It was later announced that the album was pushed up by one day to November 22, 2010.^[59] Minaj's official website and related social networking outlets later announced that the digital download version of the album would be available for pre-order through iTunes on October 30, less than a month before the release date of the physical edition.^[60]

On her Twitter, Minaj stated that if she reached one million followers she would dedicate a Ustream to her fans. On August 3, 2010, Minaj went on Ustream to call fans who emailed her their phone numbers and to reveal the album's title.^[20] Later that same day, Minaj revealed on Ustream that the album's name would be Pink Friday, stating, 'To carry on a great tradition of Black Friday, we are going to switch it up this year in honor of the Nicki Minaj album and call that day Pink Friday, and call my album Pink Friday!'^[61] A deluxe edition of the album was also confirmed.^[62] Minaj released the official artwork for her album cover on Friday, October 15, 2010.^[63]Rap-Up commented on the album cover, stating 'The cover features Minaj as a doll alarmingly staring at the camera, sitting armless on the ground with her elongated legs in a flowing silver corset, pink stilettos, and a stark pink wig.'^[64]

Tour[edit]

Minaj announced via the social networking site Twitter that she would kick off a five-date promotional tour a month before the album dropped.^[65] Tweeting, 'Ok Barbz, here are the 1st 5 dates on my Pink Friday Tour,' the tour began in Philadelphia on October 22, and ran through October 30 in Trinidad and Tobago.^[65][66]

Critical reception[edit]

Pink Friday was met with mostly positive critical reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 68, based on 26 reviews.^[68]

Reviewing the album for The Boston Globe, James Reed called it 'a brash pop album brimming with Minaj's various personae and Technicolor rhymes'.^[77]Entertainment Weekly's Brad Wete applauded Minaj's 'knack for melody' and 'boasting lyrics',^[78] while Sam Wolfson of NME noted Minaj's 'pop sensibility', 'volatility and quirks .. reminiscent of heyday Lil Wayne'.^[79]Los Angeles Times writer Margaret Wappler commented that the album 'shows Minaj is on the cusp',^[80] while Ann Powers noted Minaj's attempt to showcase her multi-faceted range and complimented her female perspective.^[81] Marc Hogan of Spin said it succeeded more as 'a budding artist's love letter to pop – well-wrought and exuberantly penned',^[75] while Pitchfork critic Scott Plagenhoef believed 'even when she's aiming down the middle of the road, she's at least better than almost anyone else', while citing the hip-hop bonus tracks 'Blow Ya Mind' and 'Muny' as among the album's best.^[73]AllMusic's David Jeffries wrote that the album 'both dazzles and disappoints', stating 'Feed off the production, the great musical ideas, and Minaj's keen sense of her surroundings, and Pink Friday is an outstanding success'.^[69] Allison Stewart of The Washington Post wrote that the album 'nibbles at the edges of what female rappers are allowed to do, even as it provides a steady helping of pop hits'.^[82]Robert Christgau from MSN Music called Minaj 'the quick-lipped hoyden of the year' who is 'proud to be shameless, with the hooks to back it up',^[72] and later named Pink Friday the 12th best album of 2010.^[83]

Some reviewers were more critical. Andy Gill of The Independent felt that 'Right Thru Me' is the only track that exhibits 'adequate use of [Minaj's] R&B vocal skills' among an album of unoriginal 'rap braggadocio'.^[71]Slant Magazine's Jesse Cataldo praised Minaj's versatility on tracks like 'Roman's Revenge', but was disappointed with the collaborative 'Moment 4 Life', noting she could have shown more confidence by acting as a foil for Drake, but didn't.^[84] In The Observer, Kitty Empire called the album a 'triumph of prevarication', but observed a stylistic identity crisis, with a satisfactory but characterless portion of pop music.^[85] Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice criticized the album's 'R&B crossover' material and found it lyrically 'underwhelming'.^[86]Alexis Petridis of The Guardian commented that 'for every burst of originality, there's a burst of generic frosty synth and Auto-Tune', noting that 'the pop- and R&B-influenced tracks simply aren't as exciting, lyrically or musically, as the foam-mouthed hardcore ones'.^[70]

Commercial performance[edit]

Pink Friday debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 375,000 copies in its first week. This marked the second-highest sales week for a female hip hop recording artist, behind Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998.^[1] On December 17, 2010, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[87] In its eleventh week on the chart, the album sold 45,000 copies and topped the Billboard 200.^[88] The album also held the record for the most weeks in the top ten on the Billboard 200 chart by a female rap album, having spent fourteen consecutive weeks in the top ten since its release.^[89] On March 22, 2016, the album was certified triple platinum by the RIAA for combined album sales, track sales, on-demand audio, and video streams equivalent of three million album-sale units.^[87] As of February 2018, the album has sold two million traditional copies in the United States.^[3] Elsewhere, Pink Friday peaked at number eight in Canada, and within the top twenty in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom.^{[90][91][92][93]} In the United Kingdom, it has sold 282,000 copies, as of April 2012.^[94]

Track listing[edit]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pink Friday.^[95]Bosch silence plus 44 dba manual.

Sample credits

• 'Check It Out' samples 'Video Killed the Radio Star' performed by The Buggles, and elements and samples of 'Think (About It)' written by James Brown, performed by Lyn Collins.
• 'Blazin' samples 'Don't You (Forget About Me)', written by Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff, as performed by Simple Minds.
• 'Here I Am' samples 'Red Sky' by John B and Shaz Sparks.
• 'Your Love' samples 'No More I Love You's' by Annie Lennox.
• 'Girls Fall Like Dominoes' contains samples from 'Dominos' written by The Big Pink, and interpolations of 'Trailar Load a Girls' written by Cleveland Browne, Greville Gordon and Whycliffe Johnson.

Personnel[edit]

Credits adapted from Allmusic.^[105]

• Chris Bellman – mastering
• Joshua Berkman – A&R
• Sandy Brummels – art direction
• Noel Cadastre – assistant
• Dwayne 'Tha President' Carter – executive producer
• Lyttleton 'Cartwheel' Carter – assistant
• Ariel Chobaz – engineer, mixing
• Seandrae 'Mr. Bangladesh' Crawford – producer
• James Cruz – A&R, management
• Sean Combs – management
• DJ Ammo – synthesizer
• Dylan Dresdow – mixing
• Chris Gehringer – mastering
• Kevin Hissink – electric guitar
• John B. – keyboards, producer, programming
• Padraic Kerin – engineer
• Kenny Meiselas – legal counsel
• Drew Money – producer
• Charles Moniz – engineer
• J.R. Rotem – arranger, mixing
• Safaree 'SB' Samuels – A&R, vocals
• Ed Shapiro – legal counsel
• Noah '40' Shebib – engineer
• Olivia Smith – package design
• Shaz Sparks – vocals
• Swizz Beatz – producer
• T-Minus – producer
• Pop Wansel – producer
• will.i.am – drum programming, engineer, producer, synthesizer
• Bryan Williams – executive producer
• Ronald Williams – executive producer
• G.L. Wood – photography

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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82. ^Stewart, Allison (November 22, 2010). 'Nicki Minaj: 'Pink Friday''. The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
83. ^Christgau, Robert (January 14, 2011). 'The Dean's List: Christgau's Best of 2010'. The Barnes & Noble Review. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
84. ^Cataldo, Jesse (November 20, 2010). 'Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday – Music Review'. Slant Magazine. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
85. ^Empire, Kitty (November 21, 2010). 'Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday – review'. The Observer. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
86. ^Baron, Zach. Juzwiak, Rich (November 24, 2010). Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday, Debated. The Village Voice. Village Voice, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
87. ^ ^ab'American album certifications – Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday'. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 18, 2010.If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
88. ^ ^abc'Nicki Minaj - Chart History'. Billboard. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
89. ^'Nicki Minaj Breaks Billboard Female Rap Album Record'. MTV.
90. ^ ^abWilliams, John (December 1, 2010). 'Kanye has beautiful chart debut'. Jam! Music. CANOE. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
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93. ^ ^ab'Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive: 6th August 2011'. The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
94. ^ ^abJones, Alan. 'Official Charts Analysis: Katy Perry album hits 1m sales, Nicki Minaj LP shifts 47k in debut week'. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
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97. ^https://genius.com/artists/Larry-nacht
98. ^[1]. BMI.com. Retrieved on August 4, 2011.
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External links[edit]

• Pink Friday at Discogs (list of releases)

Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded is the second studio album by Trinidadian-born American rapper Nicki Minaj. It was released on April 2, 2012, by Young Money, Cash Money and Universal Republic. Looking to transition from her debut studio album, Pink Friday (2010), Minaj wanted to make a follow-up record about 'just having fun'. Stylistically, the album is divided by a first half of hip hop tracks and a second half of dance-pop songs. As its executive producer, Minaj enlisted a variety of collaborators.

Upon its release, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded received generally mixed reviews from music critics, who were ambivalent towards its production. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 selling 253,000 copies in its first week. In doing so, it became Minaj's second number-one album in the country, and was additionally her first to debut in the peak position. The album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined album sales, track sales, on-demand audio and video streams equivalent of two million album-sale units. Internationally, the album peaked at number one in Canada and the United Kingdom, and reached the top five in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand.

The album was promoted with five singles. Its lead single 'Starships' peaked at number five on the US BillboardHot 100. Follow-up singles 'Right by My Side' and 'Beez in the Trap' experienced moderate success on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs component chart. 'Pound the Alarm' and 'Va Va Voom' peaked at numbers fifteen and twenty-two on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. The album was additionally promoted through the Pink Friday Tour and the Pink Friday: Reloaded Tour, which visited North America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania throughout May and December 2012.

On November 19, 2012, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was reissued as an expanded version subtitled The Re-Up. It contained an additional disc with seven newly recorded tracks and an exclusive behind-the-scenes DVD to supplement the standard version of the original album. Its singles 'The Boys', 'Freedom', and 'High School' experienced moderate success on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hip Songs component chart.

• 4Promotion
• 9Charts

Background and development[edit]

Minaj describing the impact she expected the then-forthcoming album to have on the music industry.^[1]

Following the success of Minaj's debut studio album, Pink Friday (2010), Cash Money CEO, Brian 'Birdman' Williams announced to Billboard that Minaj was aiming for a first quarter release in 2012.^[2] In November 2011, Minaj announced on Twitter that the album would be released on February 14, 2012, though it was later delayed to April 3, 2012. The album focuses on Roman Zolanski, one of Minaj's alter egos that was first featured on Pink Friday. The standard artwork was released on March 1, 2012 and the deluxe artwork was revealed on March 8, 2012, both through Twitter.^[3][4]

When Minaj was asked on Twitter to describe the album in one word, she tweeted 'freedom'.^[5] In an interview following the premiere of the album's lead single, 'Starships', Minaj told Ryan Seacrest, 'I've never had this much fun recording music in my life. My first album I was very guarded. I felt like I was making music to please everyone else. I had to be politically correct, but this album I am just creating music, and there's such a big difference. Literally in the studio we were cracking up laughing, having fun, and enjoying ourselves. The music itself you're going to get every side that I've ever shown and then a little bit extra. I've tried to make it very, very balanced, because I don't ever want to be boxed in, and that's always what drives me. So I made a very diverse album.' She added that with her first album, 'I was a too open Nicki Minaj. It felt more to me like a diary, the songs were more introspective and stuff like that..with this particular album I felt that it was time to give people a moment to enjoy the lyrics, and enjoy the beats, and enjoy the voices. When I was going to do my first album people would say, 'What is she going to talk about? Is she just going to talk about sex?' So I made it my business to make an album that did not talk about sex at all. I made it my business to make an album that wasn't a vulgar album, because [on] my mixtapes I was very, very..outlandish on my mixtapes. With this album I'm going back to not necessarily to that sound, but that feeling. The feeling of 'I don't care what you think!' That's what it is.'^[6] Minaj also spoke on the concept behind her first two albums, saying: 'Sometimes I felt the first album was a little too revealing, too emotional at times, and the other thing about your first album is that you’ve had all these emotions pent up inside to release and that's what you do on your debut. On the second album I was more concerned about just having fun'.^[7]

As executive producer, Minaj enlisted a variety of producers, including Alex da Kid, Alex P, Pop & Oak, Benny Blanco, Blackout, Carl Falk, Cirkut, David Guetta, DJ Diamond Kuts, Dreamlab, Dr. Luke, Flip, Hitboy, Jimmy Joker, J.R. Rotem, Kane Beatz, Kenoe, KoOol Kojak, M.E. Productions, Pink Friday Productions, Rami Yacoub, RedOne, Rico Beats, Ryan & Smitty, Nikhil S. and T-Minus. Minaj also collaborated with different artists for the album, which includes: Cam’ron, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Lil Wayne, Nas, Drake, Young Jeezy, Chris Brown, Bobby V, and Beenie Man.^[8]

Composition[edit]

Stylistically, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded is divided by the first half's hip hop tracks and the second half's dance-pop songs.^[10] Minaj raps in her unhinged alter ego 'Roman Zolanski' over the former tracks' hard-edged beats and mostly sings on the latter half;^[11] she returns to rapping on the album's final track 'Stupid Hoe'.^[12] Music journalist Jody Rosen delineates the album's music as comprising 'Side One' for the hip-hop headz, 'Side Two' for teenyboppers.'^[13]Slant Magazine's Matthew Cole comments that the album is 'partitioned almost exactly between a rap half and a pop half'.^[14]Pitchfork Media's Ryan Dombal denotes the second half as tracks following 'Roman Reloaded' and writes that they 'range from brittle Euro-trance to milquetoast R&B to washed-out balladry.'^[15] Music critic Kitty Empire cites the song 'Pound the Alarm' as a 'compromise' between the album's two stylistic halves.^[16]

Singles[edit]

Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was promoted with five singles. 'Starships' was released as the lead single from the album on February 14, 2012.^[17] The song was an international hit, peaking inside the top ten in over fifteen countries. In the United States, the song charted at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is also Minaj's second most certified single to date.

'Right by My Side' was sent to US rhythmic radio and US urban radio on March 27, 2012,^[18] as the album's second single. The song, which features additional vocals from Chris Brown, has since peaked at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100.

'Beez in the Trap', which features 2 Chainz, was sent to US rhythmic radio on May 29, 2012,^[19] as the third single from the album. The song peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100.

'Pound the Alarm' was released as the fourth single from the album.^[20] It was sent to US Top 40/Mainstream radio on July 17, 2012.^[21] The song peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as in the top ten in other countries including Australia, Canada and the UK.

'Va Va Voom' was released as the fifth and final single from the album. It was sent to BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2012,^[22] and to US Top 40/Mainstream radio on October 23, 2012.^[23] The song peaked at number 22 on Billboard Hot 100 and in the top 20 in Canada and the UK.

Promotion[edit]

Minaj performed 'Roman Holiday' at the 54th Grammy Awards on February 12, 2012, making Minaj the first solo female rapper to perform at the award show.^[24] The controversial performance borrowed elements of the classic horror film, The Exorcist. Minaj said in an interview with Rap-Up, 'I had this vision for [alter-ego, Roman Zolanski] to be sort of exorcised—or actually he never gets exorcised—but people around him tell him he's not good enough because he's not normal, he's not blending in with the average Joe. Mickey saves the day – 3d adventure pc download. And so his mother is scared and the people around him are afraid because they’ve never seen anything like him. He wanted to show that not only is he amazing and he's sure of himself and confident, but he's never gonna change, he's never gonna be exorcised. Even when they throw the holy water on him, he still rises above.' MTV said the performance 'was the most elaborate of the night's Grammy performances and had everyone talking.'^[25]

On February 26, 2012, Minaj performed 'Starships' live for the first time along with 'Moment 4 Life', 'Turn Me On' and 'Super Bass' at the 2012 NBA All-Star Game. She also performed 'Starships' on the eleventh season of American Idol on March 29, 2012. In April 2012, Minaj held album signings in New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and London.^[26] That month, she traveled to the UK for a week of promotion. On April 4, 2012, she performed a 40-minute mini-concert for BET's 106 & Park.^[27] She performed 'Starships', 'Right by My Side', and 'Super Bass' in Times Square, hosted by Nokia, on April 7, 2012.^[28]On April 19, 2012, HMV held a competition for fans, where 500 winners would get the chance to meet Minaj in one of their stores in Bayswater, London, where she would sign their albums.^[29] Minaj also made an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, which was aired on April 20, 2012,^[30] and on that same day, she visited BBC Radio 1 for an interview with Nick Grimshaw.

Tours[edit]

To further promote Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, Minaj embarked on her first concert tour, entitled the Pink Friday Tour.^[31] The tour comprised 41 show dates, including, 19 in North America, 15 in Europe, 4 in Asia, and 3 in Oceania. The tour began in May 2012 with shows in Australia and Asia. The tour then continued on to Europe and North America in June, July, and August 2012. The tour came to a close on August 14, 2012 in New York City at the Roseland Ballroom. The final show was a part of a free Pepsi promotional concert.

The tour was officially announced by Minaj on May 1, 2012, featuring a stage resembling Barbie's Dreamhouse.^[32] Minaj stated that she will play radio and outdoor festivals in conduction with arenas and theaters.^[33] She described the tour as being 'intimate yet big'. Laurieann Gibson served as creative director and choreographer for the tour.^[34] Minaj also embarked on the Pink Friday: Reloaded Tour, which visited arenas throughout October and December 2012,^[35] to further promote the album and its reissue The Re-Up.

Critical reception[edit]

Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded received mixed reviews from critics.^[46] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 60, based on 30 reviews.^[37] Although he complimented its first half as 'an amusement park for production lovers', AllMusic editor David Jeffries criticized the album's 'iffy pop' and called it 'a frustrating mix of significant and skippable.'^[38] Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times commended its 'minimal, bouncy hip-hop tracks' for highlighting Minaj's 'charm and achievement', but wrote that the 'disjointed, artistically confused' album 'drives off a cliff' with 'dance pop songs as simple as they are generic'.^[10] Emily Mackay of NME found its disparate music 'just baffling' and 'zany for the sake of it'.^[43]Kitty Empire, writing in The Observer, interpreted Minaj's pop songs as 'an aggressive bid for [Lady] Gaga's territory.'^[16] David Amidon of PopMatters accused Minaj of 'doubling down on her cartoonish elements' and criticized its first half as 'very poorly thought out rap music masquerading as pop'.^[12] John Calvert of The Quietus described the album as 'pop postmodernity in an advanced state of hollow, banal meaningless[ness]' and felt that the pop songs have 'absolutely nothing to do with Minaj's art'.^[47]Slant Magazine's Matthew Cole panned it as a 'mediocre rap album' and felt that 'Minaj conveys no personality' when she does not rap.^[14] 'Too many of its 19 tracks leave Minaj simply treading the territory of other radio divas', wrote Kyle Anderson in Entertainment Weekly.^[39]

In a positive review for Rolling Stone, journalist Jody Rosen called it a 'filler-free mega-pop album' and commented that 'the energy never flags'.^[13] Jessica Hopper of Spin praised Minaj's 'rap offerings' as 'nearly flawless' and wrote of the album's portion of pop tracks, 'Her artistic potency dissolves, and she's just another well-finessed quirky diva'.^[44] Tom Ewing of The Guardian said that it 'doesn't matter' that the album is inconsistent and 'makes no attempt to marry its rap and pop impulses .. at their best the styles are wedded anyway by a particular frenzy, a sense that Minaj comes with no off switch or lower gear.'^[40]Robert Christgau said in his review for MSN Music that Minaj 'raps exceptionally well, sings quite well, rhymes inconsistently but sometimes superbly', and that the album's deluxe edition starts and ends 'strong', with a 'fun' middle that veers between 'mawkish and loud'. Christgau recommended it to listeners who 'enjoy contemporary pop whose market-tested blare offends both rockist philistines and IDM aesthetes'.^[42]

Commercial performance[edit]

Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 253,000 copies in its first week, for the week ending April 10, 2012.^[48] This marked Minaj's second number-one album in that country following her previous studio album, Pink Friday (2010), which peaked at number one in February 2011. On June 22, 2012, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of one million copies in the U.S.^[49] The album sold 785,000 copies throughout 2012 in the US.^[50]Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was the best selling rap album released in 2012 in the US, and overall the album was the third highest-selling R&B/Hip-Hop album of 2012 in the US.^[51][52] According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was the 25th best-selling album globally of 2012, with sales of 1.4 million copies worldwide during that year.^[53] As of February 2015, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded has sold 905,000 copies in the US.^[54] On March 22, 2016, the album was certified double platinum by the RIAA for combined album sales, track sales, on-demand audio, and video streams equivalent of two million album-sale units.^[49]

Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and the UK R&B Albums Chart, with first week sales of 47,000 copies.^[55][56] In doing so, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded became the first album by a female rap artist to chart at number one in the United Kingdom. Additionally, the album sold 242,000 copies in the UK throughout 2012, making it the thirty-seventh best selling album of that year.^[57]Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart,^[58] and debuted at number five on the Australian Albums Chart.^[59] In Mexico, the album reached the top 40 in its first week of release.^[60]

Track listing[edit]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.^[61] Ramayan serial title song free download.

Personnel[edit]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.^[61]

• Nicki Minaj – executive producer
• Martin Sandberg – vocals
• Carl Falk – guitar, producer, vocals, mixing, instrumentation
• Wayne Hector – vocals
• Jeanette Olsson – vocals (Background)
• Ariel Chobaz – engineer, vocal editing, vocal producer, mixing
• RedOne – vocals (background), producer, instrumentation, vocal editing
• Marissa Bregman – vocals
• Rachael Findlen – vocals
• Patrizia Valentina – vocals
• Eve Boase – vocals
• Kalenna Harper – vocals
• Kelly Sheehan – vocals
• Teddy Sky – vocals (Background)
• Rutger 'Ruffi' Kroese – vocal mixing
• Bilal 'The Chef' Hajji – vocals (background)
• AJ Junior – vocals (background)
• Mohombi – vocals
• Joshua Berkman – A&R coordinator
• Dwayne 'Tha President' Carter – executive producer
• David Levy – engineer
• Finis 'KY' – white engineer
• Koool – Kojak programming, producer, instrumentation
• Rami – producer, mixing, instrumentation, vocal editing
• Noah Shebib – engineer
• Alex Da Kid – producer
• Gelly Kusuma – engineer
• Alex P – producer, engineer, vocal editing, instrumentation
• Brian 'Big Bass' Gardner – mastering
• Donald 'Tixie' Dixon – engineer
• Stuart White – engineer
• T-Minus – producer
• Ronald 'Slim Tha Don' Williams – executive producer
• Donnie Meadows – production coordination
• Michael 'Banger' Cadahia – engineer
• Elizabeth Gallardo – recording assistant
• Bryan 'Baby Birdman' Williams – executive producer
• Trevor Muzzy – engineer, mixing, vocal editing
• Noel Cadastre – recording assistant
• Cortez Bryant – executive producer
• Josh Thomas – producer, writer
• Black Raw – mastering, mixing, additional production
• Safaree 'SB' Samuels – executive producer, A&R coordinator
• Pop Wansel – producer
• Rico Beats – producer
• Clint Gibbs – recording assistant
• Smitty – producer
• Lukasz Gottwald – vocals
• Jimmy Joker – producer, instrumentation
• Katie Mitzell – production coordination
• Cirkut – programming, instrumentation, producer
• Scott 'Yarmov' Yarmovsky – production coordination
• Jermaine Preyan – executive producer
• Ryan – producer
• Jon Sher – mixing assistant, recording assistant
• Jahshari Wilson – cover design
• JusIce Beatz – producer
• Nikhil Seethram – producer
• JProof – producer
• Flippa123 – producer
• DJ Diamond Kuts – producer
• Tim Roberts – mixing assistant
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• John Rivers – engineer
• Kane – producer
• Benny Blanco – programming, producer, instrumentation
• Blackout – producer
• Hype Williams – photography
• Ke'Noe – producer
• Dr. Luke – programming, producer, instrumentation
• David Guetta – producer
• Phil Seaford – mixing assistant
• Nicholas Cooper – vocal producer
• Tanisha Broadwater – production coordination
• J.R. Rotem – producer
• Irene Richter – production coordination
• Giorgio Tuinfort – producer
• Dream – lab producer
• Hit Boy – producer

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Release history[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Rob Markman (March 1, 2013). 'Nicki Minaj Promises Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded Is A 'Doozy''. MTV News. MTV. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
2. ^'New Nicki Minaj Album Out in Early 2012, Says Birdman'. Billboard. November 21, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
3. ^Krishnamurthy, Sowmya (March 1, 2012). 'Nicki Minaj Releases 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded' Album Art'. MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
4. ^'Nicki Minaj Unveils Deluxe Cover of 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded''. Rap-Up.com. July 15, 2006. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
5. ^'NICKI MINAJ: 'ROMAN RELOADED' REPRESENTS 'FREEDOM''. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
6. ^'WORLD PREMIERE: Listen To Nicki Minaj's New Single 'Starships' [AUDIO] Ryan Seacrest – The official entertainment news site of American Idol host and American Top 40 on air radio personality!'. Ryan Seacrest. February 14, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
7. ^'Nicki Minaj Compares Albums / 'My First Was Too Revealing' – That Grape Juice.net – Thirsty?'. .::That Grape Juice.net::. – Thirsty?.
8. ^'Nicki Minaj: 'Roman Reloaded' Represents 'Freedom''. Rap-Up.com. March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
9. ^Sciarretto, Amy (March 20, 2012). 'NICKI MINAJ, 'RIGHT BY MY SIDE' FEAT. CHRIS BROWN – SONG REVIEW'. Popcrush. Mog Music Network. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
10. ^ ^abRoberts, Randall (April 2, 2012). 'Album review: Nicki Minaj's 'Pink Friday .. Roman Reloaded''. Latimesblogs.latimes.com. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
11. ^Koski, Genevieve (April 3, 2012). 'Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'. The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
12. ^ ^abAmidon, David. 'Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'. PopMatters. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
13. ^ ^abcRosen, Jody (April 6, 2012). 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'. Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
14. ^ ^ab'Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded Music Review'. Slant Magazine. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
15. ^ ^abDombal, Ryan (April 6, 2012). 'Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
16. ^ ^abEmpire, Kitty (April 7, 2012). 'Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – review'. The Observer. The New Review section, p. 30. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
17. ^'iTunes – Music – Starships – Single by Nicki Minaj'. Itunes.apple.com. 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
18. ^WebCite query result
19. ^https://www.webcitation.org/67qAX0I9A?url=http://www.allaccess.com/top40-rhythmic/future-releases
20. ^Corner, Lewis (June 6, 2012). 'Nicki Minaj confirms new single 'Pound the Alarm' – listen'. Digital Spy. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
21. ^https://www.webcitation.org/68zaMVvLl?url=http://www.allaccess.com/top40-mainstream/future-releases
22. ^'BBC Radio 1 Playlist'. BBC. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012.
23. ^'Top 40/Mainstream Radio'. All Access Music Group. allaccess.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
24. ^Patterson, Joseph (February 20, 2012). 'RICK ROSS IS MTV'S HOTTEST MC IN THE GAME'. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
25. ^Markman, Rob (February 13, 2012). 'Nicki Minaj's Grammy Spectacle Draws Mixed Reaction'. MTV. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
26. ^'Nicki Minaj Greets Fans at New York Album Signing'. Rap-Up.com. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
27. ^John-Paul (April 11, 2012). 'JP's Pop Files: Nicki Minaj's 'Roman Reloaded' promotion – live Nokia performance, new 'Beez' video, and Nightline interview'. Jpspopfiles.com. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
28. ^'Nicki Minaj Lights Up Times Square – The Juice'. Billboard. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
29. ^'Nicki Minaj Album Signing Session In London, UK Pictures'. Young Money HQ. April 20, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
30. ^X. Alexander. 'Nicki Minaj Explains 'Beez in the Trap' And Quitting Twitter On 'The Graham Norton Show' Music News, Reviews, and Gossip on'. Idolator.com. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
31. ^'Nicki Minaj's Roman Reloaded Album Tracklist is Revealed'. Xxlmag.Com. March 19, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
32. ^Martin, Andrew (May 1, 2012). 'Nicki Minaj Announces Summer Tour'. Complex. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
33. ^'Nicki Minaj Tour Dates 2012: Pink Friday North American Stops to Include Miami, Dallas, Vancouver [FULL LIST]'. International Business Times. May 1, 2012. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
34. ^Vena, Jocelyn; White-Wolf, Vanessa (May 23, 2012). 'Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday Tour Is 'Intimate But Big''. MTV News. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
35. ^'Nicki Minaj Announces 'Pink Friday Reloaded' UK Arena Tour'. Live Nation. June 25, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
36. ^'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded by Nicki Minaj reviews'. AnyDecentMusic. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
37. ^ ^ab'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
38. ^ ^abJeffries, David. 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – Nicki Minaj'. AllMusic. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
39. ^ ^abAnderson, Kyle (April 13, 2012). 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded review - Nicki Minaj'. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
40. ^ ^abEwing, Tom (April 5, 2012). 'Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday Roman Reloaded – review'. The Guardian. section G2, p. 22. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
41. ^Gill, Andy (April 6, 2012). 'Album: Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday Roman Reloaded (Island)'. The Independent. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
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