Music Review: Nicki Minaj "Starships"

Nicki Minaj

Starships

Album:  Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

Year: 2012

                  Nicki Minaj takes a vacation day in the  chaotic  “Starships.”

                  A jaunty guitar opens the single, setting a frivolous tone. It’s springtime and she has some time she’s been saving. In the morning, she packs her tanning lotion, a towel, and some sandwiches. . It’s been a while she’s had a day off and she plans to party the day away.  At about 8 am, her friends pick her up and she’s on her way to the beach. There, she unpacks the cooler and takes out some beer. They make a toast to friendship and the sun. After hanging out at the beach all day, they head for a dance club. She orders one Patron after another, keeping the bartender happy with a decent tip. Between tips and drinks, she’s spending most of her paycheck. She’ll get more money in two weeks. However, she only gets a day or two a year when she can drink all day and not worry about the hangover the next morning. (“Red One/Let’s go to the beach, each/Let’s go get away/They say, what they gonna say?/Have a drink, clink, found the Bud Light/Bad bitches like me, is hard to come by/The Patrón, own, let’s go get it on/The zone, own, yes I’m in the zone/Is it two, three, leave a good tip/I’ma blow all my money and don’t give two shits.”)

             In the pre-chorus, she’s dancing around in the middle of the club. Her friends are handing her shots and she continues to take them. She’ll stop once she begins to stumble. (“I’m on the floor, floor/I love to dance/So give me more, more/‘Til I can’t stand/Get on the floor, floor/Like it’s your last chance/If you want more, more/Then here I am.”)

            In the chorus, she’s in a fantastic mood. She’s drunk and enjoying every minute of her night out. (“Starships were meant to fly/Hands up and touch the sky/Can’t stop ‘cause we’re so high/Let’s do this one more time (Oh oh, oh oh)/Starships were meant to fly/Hands up and touch the sky/Let’s do this one last time/Can't stop/We’re higher than a m***********/ We’re higher than a m***********/ We’re higher than a m***********.”)

           She’s proud of her car. She may have to make payments on it but it’s something that’s hers. She doesn’t make much, living every week paycheck to paycheck. She’s decided to forgo rent this month in order to have fun. She has a laid-back persceptive to life and believes people should live on their own terms. She tries to involve everybody at the club in her dance and starts talking to people, introducing herself. (“Jump in my hooptie hooptie hoop/I own that/And I ain’t paying my rent this month/I owe that
But fuck who you want, and fuck who you like/That's our life, there’s no end in sight/Twinkle, twinkle little star/Now everybody let me hear you say ray ray ray/Now spend all your money cause today's pay day/And if you’re a G, you a G, G, G/My name is Onika, you can call me Nicki.”)

      The pre-chorus is sung again.

    The chorus is sung twice to end the single.

   Minaj’s high-strung, blitzed vocals traipse around, unconcerned with the notion of work and looking for the next free shot.

     The scattered dance arrangment sprints from highly sweentened pop to a dazed beat and then to noisy, pounding synths. It’s the pounding synths and the meme of “we’re higher than a m***********” that gives the single its punch.

      The imploding “Starships” fiddles with all the controls, jamming it before it can ever take off.