Queen (Target Exclusive)＜限定盤＞

With a flow that launched a thousand features, Nicki Minaj's talent seemed to find its perfect niche in any of her multiple guest appearances on other artist's hits or in chart-topping singles that wrapped the most digestible version of her snarling delivery in a sugar-coating designed for pop radio. The infectious sparkle of her singles was largely lacking in her full-length albums, which could feel inconsistent or torn between Minaj's fierce skills as a rapper and her calculated pop star veneer. Fourth album Queen follows four years after 2014's The Pinkprint, and finds Minaj offering a darker atmosphere and focusing on her ferocious rap skills more than her well-tested commercial accessibility. With an hour-plus-running time, Queen stretches out languidly, making space for Minaj to follow various paths as the album moves on. Melodic and radio-friendly fare like the Ariana Grande-assisted "Bed" exemplifies Minaj's signature pop/rap hybrid formula, and she finds the sweet spot for this formula when she co-mingles sticky vocal hooks with vicious flows as on album-opener "Ganja Burns." "Barbie Dreams" adds layers to Minaj's return to rap form, referencing not just the Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die classic "Just Playing (Dreams)," but also throws back the first time she visited this theme on "Dreams 07," the first track on her debut mixtape Playtime Is Over. Rhyming over the same beat over a decade later, Minaj is at her meanest and most hilarious as she drags famous rappers in an unrelenting stream of bilious rhymes. Similarly, the jittery "LLC" uncorks Minaj's flow at its most ruthless, delivering rhymes that are so quick, funny, and complexly constructed that they're hard to take in the first time. Other strong moments come with the Foxy Brown collaboration "Coco Chanel," a humid banger built on a dancehall-flavored beat, as well as the weirdly catchy "Majesty," a song with a quirky hook that takes notes from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy-era Kanye West. ~ Fred Thomas

見るたびにお尻と胸が巨大化していくニッキー。容姿だけでなく4年ぶりのアルバムでも大胆な性表現を試み、前作以上にラップの比重を増やしてきました。ノートリアスBIG"Just Playing(Dreams)"と同じJBネタを使った人気ラッパーたちとの妄想セックス曲や、フォクシー・ブラウンとのお色気ハードコア対決など90sシーンに敬意を払いながら、メトロ・ブーミンらが提供したスッカスカのビートに言葉をめいっぱい詰め込んでいく姿が超絶カッコイイです。また、レゲエっぽいフロウを要所で披露しているのも特徴で、エミネムやアリアナ・グランデ、フューチャーら豪華ゲストも霞むほどの鮮やかなマイク捌きはお見事と言う意外ありません。この不敵なタイトルも中身を聴けば大いに頷ける、文句なしの最高傑作!
bounce (C)山西絵美