On June 29, after months (years?) of teasing new music, Nicki Minaj announced that her fifth studio album, out later this year, will be called Pink Friday 2, and is slated to be a follow-up to her debut project of the same name. Fans who experienced the rapper’s come up in real time in 2010 were thrilled by this news — I groaned and rolled my eyes.
We are in an epidemic of album sequels right now. That’s how we got major disappointments like Certified Lover Boy, the 2021 Drake album that promised to be Take Care 2.0, and messy collections of inspired throwaways like Ye’s DONDA 2 (which, to be fair, isn’t even really an album, but you get the point).
The problem with album sequels is that they wear their blatant obvious-ness on their sleeves. These artists have no shame in going through the motions for nostalgia’s sake, instead of creating something that’s actually innovative and makes a cultural impact. Earlier this year, producer Timbaland compared Justin Timberlake’s new music to FutureSex/LoveSounds, the album that is not-so-coincidentally considered to be Timberlake’s best work. You sure you don’t want to take a crack at Man Of The Woods Part 2, JT?
The ironic part about all of this is, the motivation behind these albums is completely antithetical to the mission statement of the original product. When Nicki Minaj first hit the scene, there was no one who sounded like her, male or female. This time around, though, she’ll likely be cosplaying as herself from 13 years ago with a forced freshness and contrived uniqueness that just won’t hit the same because it’s already been done before — by her. A pop album that sounded like FutureSex/LoveSounds didn’t exist in 2006, but it does in 2023, and now that we have that framework to compare it to, the new project is probably going to sound tired, uninspired, and leave much to be desired.
I just want to grab these musicians by the shoulders and shake them until they understand you can’t make lightening strike twice. If the attempt is anything less than authentic and genuine, it’s not going to work. They all need to take a page out of Usher’s playbook, who considered calling his next project Confessions 2 before scrapping the idea earlier this year. “I can’t be who I was. I don’t want to be who I was. I want to be better than what I was,” the artist told GQ in February. Maybe Nicki should be more like Usher.