How do you take the best track off Nicki Minaj’s latest album and make it better? It’s easier than you think: just swap out Eminem’s schizophrenic verse with a part from the newly freed Lil Wayne.
With this new change to the single “Roman’s Revenge,” Minaj is now standing tall with an awesome new take on an already great song. America’s favorite rapper/ex-inmate (for the moment) sounds reanimated on the track, which originally appeared on Minaj’s latest album Pink Friday. The track’s simple beat, the backing track is the same for almost the whole track, allows Minaj and Wayne to shine by creating a clever kind of intensity through Minaj’s grab-bag of voices and Wayne’s in-your-face verse. And although the track is three minutes of the same backing track, you’re never bored. Minaj, as she proved by performing in and out of skits on Saturday Night Live, isn’t just a musician: she’s an entertainer. And a listen through “Roman’s Revenge” is more of a journey through a really screwed-up monologue than just a bunch of verses and choruses.
Turn it down – Christina Aguilera – The National Anthem (Live at the Super Bowl, 2011)
If you own a TV and have turned it on in the last few days, you undoubtedly have heard about Christina Aguilera’s little – er, big screw up on Sunday’s Super Bowl when she sang the National Anthem. Aguilera managed to mangle a few phrases from a song most have us have been familiar with since we were in grade school, and tried to cover it up by repeating the line “What so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last gleaming.”
But that wasn’t the main problem with Aguilera’s performance. I don’t think there are many people who watched Aguilera butcher the National Anthem that aren’t sick and tired with her schtick. The woman makes single syllables last for up to thirty seconds, and tries to cover every note in whatever scale she’s in while doing so. Aguilera’s spent years trying to prove that she’s more than a Britney knock-off by belting out phrases that are usually bookended by misplaced and tonally awkward “ohs” and “ahs.” But, after more than a decade in the biz, really, who cares? She’s been the same singer for this long, and it’s getting really, really boring.
