Queen

by Nicki Minaj

Overview

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

Product Details

Release Date:	08/17/2018
Label:	Cash Money
UPC:	0602567712183

Tracks

1. Ganja Burns
2. Majesty
3. Barbie Dreams
4. Rich Sex
5. Hard White
6. Bed
7. Thought I Knew You
8. Run & Hide
9. Chun Swae
10. Chun-Li
11. LLC
12. Good Form
13. Nip Tuck
14. 2 Lit 2 Late Interlude
15. Come See About Me
16. Sir
17. Miami
18. Coco Chanel
19. Inspirations Outro

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Nicki Minaj   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
6ix9ine   Primary Artist
Labrinth   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Foxy Brown   Featured Artist
Future   Featured Artist
The Weeknd   Featured Artist
Jairus Mozee   Guitar
Eminem   Vocals,Featured Artist
Lil Wayne   Vocals,Featured Artist
Luis Resto   Keyboards
Swae Lee   Featured Artist
Murda Beatz   Featured Artist
Ariana Grande   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Jaycen Joshua   Mixing
Dwayne Carter   Composer
Sool   Producer
JFK   Producer
Rashad Smith   Composer,Producer
Labrinth   Engineer,Producer
Joe Strange   Engineer
Nicki Minaj   Producer
Melvin Hough   Composer
Christopher Wallace   Composer
Zaytoven   Producer
Kane Beatz   Producer
Jeremy Coleman   Composer
Cory Williams   Assistant Engineer
Timothy McKenzie   Composer
Joshua Adams   Composer
Jbeatzz   Producer
J-MIKE   Producer
!llmind   Producer
Iain Findlay   Assistant Engineer
Dillon Francis   Composer
David Nakaji   Mixing,Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Jeremy Reid   Composer
Jon Castelli   Mixing
Mel & Mus   Producer
Daniel Johnson   Composer
Brian Judd   Assistant Engineer
Michael Williams   Composer
Jairus Mozee   Composer
Jordan Silva   Assistant Engineer
Christopher Braide   Composer,Producer
Julian Gramma   Composer,Producer
Nayvadius Wilburn   Composer
Douglas Patterson   Composer
Asheton Hogan   Composer
Mike WiLL Made-It   Producer
Kevin Gomringer   Composer
Tim Gomringer   Composer
Ashley Bannister   Composer,Producer
Abel Tesfaye   Composer
Ramon Ibanga   Composer
Adam Feeney   Composer
Shin Kamiyama   Engineer
Jawara Headley   Composer
Rasool Diaz   Composer
Rivelino Wouter   Composer
Ben Billions   Producer
Metro Boomin   Producer
LunchMoney Lewis   Composer
Nick Valentin   Assistant Engineer
Serban Ghenea   Mixing
Chris Athens   Mastering
James Brown   Composer
Fred Wesley   Composer
Eminem   Mixing,Engineer,Additional Production
John Hanes   Mixing Engineer
Luis Resto   Composer
Xavier Dotson   Composer
Boi-1da   Producer
Jason Fox   Composer
Frank Dukes   Producer
Ben Diehl   Composer
Brian "Big Bass" Gardner   Mastering
Sonny Moore   Composer
Manny Galvez   Engineer
Brett Bailey   Composer
Leland Wayne   Composer
Shane Lindstrom   Composer
Jason Staniulis   Assistant Engineer
Khalif Brown   Composer
Swae Lee   Engineer
Rex Kudo   Composer,Producer
Henry Walter   Composer,Producer
Randy Lanphear   Engineer
Sevn Thomas   Producer
Matthew Sim   Assistant Engineer
Murda Beatz   Producer
Brittany Hazzard   Composer
Alex Estevez   Assistant Engineer
Rupert Thomas, Jr.   Composer
Christopher Smith   Composer
Rashawn McLean   Mixing Assistant
Jamal Berry   Assistant Engineer
Ingmar Carlson   Mixing Engineer
June Nawakii   Composer,Producer
Ben Milchev   Mixing,Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Pluss   Producer
William "Billy" Knauft   Assistant Engineer
Jacob Richards   Mixing Assistant
Mescon David Asher   Composer
Wesley Dees   Composer
Jason Delattiboudere   Assistant Engineer
Shane Goodridge   Assistant Engineer
Mike Seaberg   Mixing Assistant
Yann Bordeo   Assistant Engineer
Laura Bates   Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Ivan Jimenez   Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Inga Marchand   Composer
Marshall Mathers   Composer
Dwayne Chin-Quee   Composer,Producer
DJ Wes   Producer
Aubry "Big Juice" Delaine   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Additional Production
Jeff Edwards   Engineer
Jordon Silva   Assistant Engineer
Ahmad Balshe   Composer
Todd Bergman   Assistant Engineer
Brett "Beats" Bailey   Producer
Onika Maraj   Composer
Ludovick Tartavel   Assistant Engineer
Kenta Yonesaka   Assistant Engineer
Matthew Samuels   Composer
Mike Strange   Mixing,Engineer