Ellen: Nicki Minaj “Freedom” & Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded The Re-Up

Ellen: Nicki Minaj “Freedom” Musical Performance

Superstar Nicki Minaj stopped by Ellen to perform her song, “Freedom,” off of her new album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded- The Re-Up, an expanded reissue of her earlier album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. Despite the reissue not being carried by huge retailers Target and Walmart, it still sold 36,000 copies in its first week.

Nicki Minaj wore a red dress, which complimented her blonde-at-this-moment hair well. Smoke covered the floor and there were many blue lights covering the walls and ceiling of the stage, until Nicki Minaj mentioned the color pink, at which point the lights switched to pink.

Nicki Minaj commanded the stage very confidently and and sang with plenty of passion. It’s clear from her performance and her music that Nicki Minaj is an artist, through and through.

Ellen: Nicki Minaj “Freedom” Lyrics

The song, “Freedom,” is about where Nicki Minaj feels she is at right now in the music world. In the first verse, she thanks her crew, talks about the imprint she’s created and discusses how she’s opened doors for female singers and rappers. She sounds as though she thinks they’re ungrateful, but she helped them anyway.

The chorus, of “I feel free, I feel freedom,” is really catchy and inspiring. With the passion and depth that Nicki Minaj gives the vocals there, these are the words that stand out in the mind. They left me wishing for more from Nicki Minaj.

Ellen: Nicki Minaj “Freedom” Theme

I think there’s a trapping in the always-honest lyrics of rap and R&B to constantly have to puff up your shoulders and beat your chest. Jay-Z, for instance, is always reminding his listeners that he’s the greatest and Nicki Minaj’s label mate Drake named his album, Thank Me Later with the last track being called, “Thank Me Now.”

These type of “I’m awesome” songs are almost always celebrated, but here, Nicki Minaj sounds almost like she’s mourning it. For a song that has the line, “And if you’re my rival, that means you’re suicidal,” the vocals should be angry and tough, or maybe even just excited. Anything. But instead, Nicki Minaj says these words with a sorrowful tone.

It works, though. The sound is a ballad and it’s definitely a hit. It’s a successful song. Personally, though, I just wonder what the real message of this song is.