Nicki Minaj recently excited fans with the release of her new album, Pink Friday 2. After being teased since 2019, fans were finally gifted with the hit on Dec. 8, 2023. Pink Friday 2 features 22 songs and spans a little over an hour. Most of the tracks are solo; however, there are appearances by big rap names such as Drake, J. Cole, Lil Wayne, and Lil Uzi Vert.

Pink Friday 2 is Nicki’s fifth studio album, following Queen (2018), which contained huge hits and kept her on top. Nicki’s project succeeds her debut studio album, Pink Friday (2010). Almost fifteen years later, Nicki has brought Pink Friday back and is better than ever.

Starting the album right, Nicki opens track three with “FTCU.” The beat drops 13 seconds in and is an immediate ear-worm. “FTCU” is set at 145 bpm, keeping heavy, powerful energy. Nicki, known for her clever rhymes, does not disappoint at all.

“I tell ‘em I’m movin’ units, my videos they gon’ view it,

Spotify ain’t gotta lie, they really streamin’ my music”

In most of her hits, Nicki shouts out her biggest haters, acknowledging their dedication to still listening to her music. No matter how much they hate her, they will stream her music, and Spotify will not lie about that.

Halfway through the track list, “Everybody ft. Lil Uzi Vert,” sitting at spot 11, is probably the catchiest song ever. It samples “Move Your Feet,”  performed by Junior Senior, dropping the first four beats, leading to Nicki catching the fifth.

My only critique of this song is that it is super repetitive. The usage of the sample in the beginning is genius, giving her the perfect opening to drop in and start laying lyrics, but it just drags on as the minutes pass by. Lil Uzi’s feature was midway, and the background add-ins seemed to drown out his verse. Everybody was still one of my favorites of the production, which is insanely catchy.

Another song with a noteworthy sample piece is track 15, “Pink Friday Girls.” The absolutely iconic 1983 hit “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper is used wisely. Keeping it very versatile, Nicki pays homage to one of her biggest hits, Super Bass, saying,

“He got that super bass, make my heart skip a beat”

Due to the nature of the song and the sample used, this song feels very eighties disco and colorful, but also super modern, hip, and clever. Nicki incorporates Lauper’s chorus into her own saying,

“My father yells, ‘What you gonna do with your life?’”

“Oh, Daddy dear, you’re still number one, but girls, they wanna have fun”

The mix of both tracks felt very playful and girly, something we see from Nicki a lot. It is safe to say that this song exceeded my expectations and brought my mom’s love for 80s music together with my love for Nicki Minaj.

Directly following Pink Friday Girls, “Super Freaky Girl” is the snappiest, most melodic, and most unforgettable song on the album. Nicki uses F-R-E-A-K rhyme schemes to hammer in the perky, lovable soundtrack. Inspired by “Super Freak,” performed by Rick James, the certified dance anthem sprinkles in sets of the song throughout.

“Ball so hard, I just took a knee”

is the toughest line in the entire song. One minute and forty-five seconds is when the song heats up and the beat is left in Nicki’s tracks. She runs off, citing many pop culture references, such as Colin Kaepernick’s knee protest. The moves she makes in this song make it even more enjoyable to listen to.

Pink Friday 2 was a masterpiece and has grossed Nicki, the self-proclaimed “Barbie,” loads more success. This album gets a 9/10 from me.