Nicki Minaj’s Rise to Fame

I would like to begin this post by commending Nicki Minaj for successfully climbing to the top of the success ladder in a male dominated industry. Female rappers have always been few and far between, but the void has been even greater in recent years. Minaj is the first female hip-hop artist to top the industry charts since 2002 and she's reached this point entirely through her own merit. Born in Trinidad and moving to Queens with her family as a child, Minaj faced numerous obstacles growing up but still managed to graduate from a high school specializing in performing and visual arts. Not afraid to compete with male emcees, Minaj released a series of mix-tapes proving her lyrical rhyming expertise and was soon discovered and signed to Young Money Entertainment and then Cash Money Records. Her first major album, Pink Friday, debuted at number two on the charts and went platinum within a month of its release in 2010. As the only female rapper in mainstream media, Minaj's conspicuous position has made her a target for both praise and criticism.

Many argue that Minaj's lyrics and image do not make her a positive role model for young girls. Like a majority of top record-selling male artists, Minaj's lyrics involve sexually and otherwise explicit language and themes. It seems to me that Minaj has been placed in a hot seat simply for being a woman. Yes, I am aware that some critics are consistent in their critiques of the corruption rampant in mainstream hip-hop, however Minaj is getting an undue amount of attention for talking openly about sex while male artists with similarly offensive lyrics are not held to the same standard. Also, Minaj has come under fire for challenging the heteronormativity that characterizes hip-hop and even once suggesting that there will be a widely revered openly gay male emcee in the near future. Reporters have interrogated Minaj about her own sexual orientation because of LGBT storylines that appear in her rhymes, but she does not allow herself to be boxed in and proudly rejects applying labels to her sexual identity.

At my age, I realize I'm a little detached from the pulse of popular culture, but I do find her music as good as, if not better than that of her peers. However, I must add that I think hip-hop could do better and the industry would benefit from a toppling of its upside-down reward structure that places the most positive and creative artists at the bottom while highlighting offensive artists with trite lyrics at the top. I'm happy to see Minaj paving the way for women in rap, but I can't help but feel nostalgic for the music of great pioneers like Mc Lyte, Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill and even Lil Kim. (The only reason I mention the Queen Bee here is because she was unique for her time and created the "Black Barbie Multicolored Hair" image that Minaj prouldy promotes.)