Nicki Minaj’s new album, Roman Reloaded, is sure to be quite a powerhouse single factory. Having been released earlier this April, her sophomore record went on to sell about 253,000 copies in its first week, significantly less than her previous effort, Pink Friday.
Though Nicki likely isn’t disappointed. in this new musical climate, the rules are changing rapidly. Roman Reloaded lacked a really strong single to push sales, and the song that was released, Stupid Hoe, earned a terrible reception from the public. It is no coincidence that the song rests at the very end of the record following 65 minutes of music and 18 other tracks.
Roman Reloaded tries to do many things, and though this would fail for many artists, Nicki Minaj manages to make it work. She may not do disco/dance as well as Lady Gaga, and she may not do direct dance ballads better than Katy Perry or angst-ridden gangsta rap like the bloated whale that is Missy Elliot, but she does all of that with varying success. It’s not to say that Roman reloaded is a bad album, it’s just all over the map.
Yet Katy Perry found modest mainstream success when her own sophomore album, teenage Dream, launched mid 2010, it was actually the string of singles that retained the albums popularity. Over half the album eventually ended up being a single, the album actually broke records for most #1 hits (Teenage Dream, E.T, The One That Got Away, to name a few).
Nicki Minaj is expected to follow the same trend with her sophomore album, Roman Reloaded. Second single ‘Right By My Side” is floating around the pop music landscape now, and previous single Starships debuted just last month. Expect a string of singles following over the course of the next year, and though Nicki Minaj surely gets hate, it is the record-breaking sales and widespread appeal of her songs which will have the last laugh.
Image Source: Album Cover: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded by Nicki Minaj
