Minaj wants to be pretty in ‘Pink’

There’s no doubt that Nicki Minaj is a scene-stealer. The pink-haired Trinidadian rapstress has proved her larger-than-life street cred on mixtapes and collaborations with the likes of will.i.am, Usher and Drake — and she absolutely killed it in her guest spot on Kanye West’s “Monster,” upstaging West, Rick Ross and even Jay-Z in a serious contender for verse of the year.

Many assumed that “Pink Friday,” her studio debut, would be the perfect opportunity for Minaj to unleash her femcee style on an entire album. The first four tracks more than live up to the hype. They show off the Nicki we love: bad-ass, in-your-face and totally unrestrained.

Unfortunately, many of the later tracks find Minaj trying a little too hard to show her versatility. Songs like “Fly,” a collaboration with Rihanna, show that Minaj can sing schmoozy, radio-friendly songs — but that’s not what we came for now, is it?

This conflict of purpose runs throughout the album. There are the hardcore, scatological lyrics atop sick beats in “Did It On ’Em,” a track produced by Bangladesh of “A Milli” fame. But the amped up I’m-gonna-kick-some-ass feeling you get from Minaj on that track goes out the window when you hear the cliched, easily forgettable pop jam “Last Chance” with — wait for it — Natasha Bedingfield. Minaj might tell you to “go and take a leap of faith off a fucking balcony,” but these easy-listening pop tracks sound more appropriate for playing at a pre-teen clothing store in the mall.

Minaj’s indecision over whether to plump for hip-hop or synth-pop may stem from her own uncertainty about what role she’s playing. Operating in an undoubtedly sexist genre, female rappers like Nicki have to create their own mold or risk coming off as one-dimensional.

Though the album title includes the word “pink” and the cover shows Minaj as a Barbie doll, the emcee makes it clear that she won’t let her gender get in the way of her aggressive style (sample lyric: “I’m not Jasmine, I’m Aladdin”). Minaj has said in interviews that she wanted to downplay her “sexiness” on the album and move away from the Lil’ Kim image many people have when they hear rap and woman in the same sentence.

On the album’s standout track, “Roman’s Revenge,” Minaj raps as alter ego Roman Zolanski to show her inner conflict in a more concrete way. In a no-holds-barred rap battle with one of the genre’s most familiar alter egos, Slim Shady, Roman lets loose with her hardest, most intimidating flow on the album. Though her British accent at the end of the track awkwardly flip-flops between Cockney and who-knows-what, getting to hear Minaj’s repeated mantra of “Raw, raw, like a dungeon dragon” is worth it.

Despite weak moments, “Pink Friday” boasts some great tracks and explosive collaborations. When she shares the mic with Kanye on “Blazin’,” will.i.am on “Check It Out” and Drake on “Moment for Life,” we get to appreciate how Minaj holds her own and even shows up her male counterparts with quick, sassy rhymes and outrageous flow. As Nicki Minaj of all people should know, a true rapper needs to set the excuses aside and just man up.