Set to hit shelves April 3, 2012, Nicki Minaj's second album has already set a fair bit of hype. Outside of her controversial “Roman Holiday” performance at the Grammys, a handful of promotional singles have been released as well. “Roman in Moscow,” released the second of December, 2011, gave her fans another performance by the alter ego, although to mixed reviews.
On the 20th of December, “Stupid Hoe” was released, giving the press much more fodder. While the video was considered an absolute artistic achievement, the song itself, dubbed as a stab at rival Lil’ Kim, was not given the same accolade. Described as being “twitchy” and “minimalistic,” the song lacks much in the way of content, other than that of girlish ranting.
When it hit on February 14, 2012 during the program On Air With Ryan Seacrest, it jumped almost instantly to the No. 9 spot on Billboard. Given its uptempo beat and catchy hooks, it seems so far out of the genre compared to the first two released singles that it's difficult to believe they're from the same album.
"'Starships' is one of my absolute, absolute favorite records on ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,’ Nicki gushed. “It just sounds like a Ryan Seacrest-type of record. And I'm so excited for you to give this song your blessing, Ryan, because I know people are gonna love it. It feels right. It just feels good. It makes people feel happy and that's all I want. I want to start the year off with making people feel good. The [Grammy] performance was the performance, that was my clear craziness, and now it's time to make people dance and have fun, and that’s all I want to do.”
It certainly seems like some of Britney's influence has rubbed off on Nicki. “Starships” fits right in to a lineup of Britney Spears and Rihanna. In an interview with MTV, Minaj went on to declare, "There was so much love surrounding the making of the song, because RedOne is just so sweet to work with, he just sent me that one day, and he said, 'Hey, I got something for you!' I was, like, 'You got to be kidding me, right?' I went to the studio and started writing, Scratch that. I didn't even write the first verse. That was just me mumbling and just saying the first thing that came to my head, and we recorded it, because I just felt like: 'Let's go to the beach, let's go get away.' It was just so good. It feels good!"
But this good feeling didn’t come without consequence. Only days after the release of the new single, “Starships,” fans and critics alike began questioning Minaj’s motives, as it appeared the hip-hop singer was making a move toward becoming a pop star sellout.
"I would hope that people know at this point that I'm smart enough to know what I'm doing all the time. But I guess they still kind of waver. I always intended on putting out something urban after 'Starships,' because I knew 'Starships' was a monster. I didn't feel the pressure.” As for whether or not she was hurt by this, she went on to say that she was more flattered than hurt by the negative response, suggesting that her fans wouldn’t say anything if they didn’t care.
“To be honest, I feel really, really good. I feel that hip-hop cares enough that they have something to say. I remember when I was hoping that someone had something to say about me on the radio, or cared enough."
Regardless of her initial response, within the same interview with Hot 97’s Funkmaster Flex, Minaj continued to defend her decision to release a pop song with a selection of wording that could easily be interpreted as insulting to her fan base.
“Maybe it would be a problem if I couldn’t deliver records like ‘Roman Reloaded,’ but I can,” she pointed out. “I write my own lyrics. Once again, I write my own lyrics. So it’s never a problem. Whatever I feel I can write, I can create it. So I’m good. I think people sometimes get blown away by the magnitude of the pop stuff, because the pop stuff, it reaches everywhere, and then I feel like my hip-hop fans or hip-hop culture starts getting a little bit afraid that I’m going to leave.”
Later she added, “But this is who I am. I’m not going to change — I’m just adding on to my brand. And if you don’t understand that, then it’s probably why you don’t travel and you don’t see the world, and I probably can’t even have a conversation with you anymore.”