Nicki Minaj: The New Fly Girl

As I was reading Cheryl Keyes paper on the female black identity in hip hop I was thinking of current day artists that fit into these identities to see if they could be applied. Granted today I think a lot of female rappers cannot fit under just these four identities. The fly girl section is what caught my attention though, as I was reading my mind was screaming Nicki Minaj!!! just about every other sentence.

Nicki Minaj is the current day fly girl. Now as I mentioned in class I love Nicki Minaj. I'm awkwardly obsessed with her and her music. She is one rap artist I can actually rap along with being the white and acutely hip hop knowledgeable person I am (or was before this class!). But lets begin with Keyes definition of a fly girl.

"Fly describes someone in chic clothing and fashionable hairstyles, jewelry, and cosmetics" (coming from blaxploitation films of the 70's era)

Now I am sure there are many people out there who would not call Nicki chic or fashionable because her style is often outrageous to many. But lets look at the Boogie Boys description of a fly girl,

"She sports a lot of gold, wears tight jeans, leather mini skirts, a made-up face, has voluptuous curves, but speaks her mind"

Now if any of you have even seen Nicki Minaj you know that woman has a fat ass. I mean its huge. She has those voluptuous curves all over. And when have you not seen her with a made up face or tight  jeans/ pants/ leggings, whatever. On top of this she has the ever-changing hair color and styles that Salt-N-Pepa coined as a part of rap's fly girl.

Style and looks are not the only thing that make up a fly girl. They also work to accept and love their bodies which Nicki does because she ignores all the talk of the media about her behind and just says I am who I am and I love myself. She does not believe there is anything special about her except her talent as a rap artist. On top of this they sculpt their own persona (which Nicki has 4 of) and are independent women. Nicki often talks about this as she fights to be compared to and treated like male rappers because she believes she is on the same level.

On top of all this fly girls like to focus more on their rapping than their dress styles. I believe Nicki does focus on both equally because she does see her style as being a part of who she is, her music and her independence. I mean she would not be the Nicki Minaj we all know with out her style and music. I believe her to be a skilled rapper as she often has playful lyrics and utilizes wordplay well.

Punch line Queen, no boxer though
Might pull up in a Porsche, no boxster though
Tell a hater, "Yo don't you got cocks to blow?"
Tell them Kangaroo Nick, I'll box a ho

This is the opening part from her recent song "The Boys" and I love it. She is saying that she is the Queen when it comes to punch lines but she isn't wearing the shorts and leads into the Boxster which is the cheapest Porsche there is so she is making money. The next line she is basically hating on other female rappers and critics who give her shit, saying don't you have something better to do, and that she can be a boxer (kangaroos known for their 'boxing' matches) if they won't back down and she will fight them, putting them in their place. Now of course rap lyrics can be interpreted in many ways, do you have a different take? This is just an example of a recent song though. Nicki has amazing playful rap in all of her songs and I think she has the right to brag about how strong her rap skills are. Some of her lyrics are hard to understand though so definitely go check it out. Here are a couple other of my favorite songs that I think encompass her as a fly girl through rap skills and style.

Song all about how great of a rapper/ artist she is.

Roman persona

Not a rap, but I love it. Shows her skill as in artist. Marilyn is an idol of hers.

To finish this up I just want to bring up Nicki's personas I mentioned before as a part of being a fly girl. She not only made one persona but four. And they are Nicki, Roman, Martha and Barbie. Nicki is well her, Roman is a gay boy, Martha is Roman's mother and Barbie is the girly some what soft spoken persona. Watch this video to learn a little more. She explains them in her words and the show cuts of different music videos with the different personas and pay attention to the change in voice and style of rap as the personas change, it is really quite an interesting thing and takes some skill.

Interview with Chelsea Lately about her four personas. WATCH!! :)

Ultimately I believe Nicki Minaj to be today's fly girl, what do you think? How do you feel about her as a rap artist? 

If you stuck with me through all of this then thank you! I had a lot to say and I have a lot more but I should stop. But if you have any questions or want to talk about anything leave a comment! I will converse with you on this topic, rather related to her as a fly girl or not :)