It was a celebration of 21st century hip-hop at the Bell Centre last night. Hip-Hop superstar Nicki Minaj, joined by her fellow performers Meek Mill, Rae Sremmurd, Tinashe and Dej Loaf all assembled for what would be one of the most exhilarating shows of the summer.
Rap-Duo Rae Sremmurd had the crowd on their feet and throwing beach balls, while jamming to their hits – “No Type” among others, while Tinashe thrilled the audience with her Janet Jackson-esque dance moves. Newbie Rapper Dej Loaf, while still a little inexperienced, gave the audience a taste of what was to come for her future, and while most of the audience was anticipating rapper Meek Mill to make a comment or even perform that promised diss track to Drake, expectations fell short when his set lasted no longer than 15 minutes. Earlier yesterday morning, Drake released his second diss track in two days titled “Back to Back”, in which he completely dismisses every comment Meek made in reference to Drake’s alleged ghostwriting controversy. He also goes on to diss Meek by insinuating that he, in ‘street talk’, is Minaj’s “bitch”. With all the tension that this caused among hip-hop fans, hopes were high for Meek to make a comment or maybe even drop a few bars during his live set last night in response, however he flatlined and ended up staying quiet. Should we take that as him bowing out of the beef that he himself started? Only time will tell, but as for last night, it’s safe to say he let more than a few fans down.
Opening acts aside, it was clear that the audience was there to see one woman and one woman only. Emerging on the stage in a black wedding veil, Minaj started the show off on an emotional note, leaving the audience speechless. One thing that needs to be stated about Nicki Minaj is that this woman is a genius in every right. Every single move and note that she sang or rapped seemed to be coming straight from the heart, and never once gave the audience any reason to believe otherwise.
Whether it be her constant reminders to fans to “stay in school!” and “keep education first!” to standing up for women everywhere (particularly sexism in the music industry), Nicki has never been one to shy away from standing up for what she believes in: “The only thing I need a man for is one thing”, she says in reference to female independence. Earning a scorching cheer from the females in the audience, Minaj had everyone hooked from the second she stepped on the stage.
Speaking of girl power and female empowerment, Minaj herself caught some heat last week when she criticized MTV for omitting her from a “Video of the Year” nomination, insinuating that videos celebrating women with slimmer bodies get recognition. Pop star Taylor Swift took offence, resulting in a brief Twitter war between the two ladies. However, what Swift failed to realize is that Minaj was not sending a dig to her, but simply standing up for all those young girls who look up to her who do not have many female figures who look like them in the media to look up to. Minaj’s unapologetic sense of self is something that so many girls need, and by the looks of the crowd during last night’s show; it seemed her show was the one place where all women could be celebrated and feel beautiful.
With such a steep back catalogue, it was debatable as to whether Nicki would perform older classics, however she did not disappoint, even bringing it back to 2009, singing her verse from the Young Money hit “Bedrock”, the song that introduced her to the mainstream public. Also while strolling down memory lane, Minaj gave the crowd a taste of her first album, “Pink Friday” (released in 2010), by rapping the fan favourites “Roman’s Revenge” and “Right Thru Me”. Nicki calls her fans her “Barbz” and let’s just say, this Barb couldn’t have been happier!
Step into the modern portion of the show where her third album “The Pinkprint” was heavily performed, she busted out hard during the “Anaconda” performance, using the same iconic choreography that helped its music video break the 24-hour VEVO record back in August of last year. Another highlight from the show would be the comical yet completely charming rendition of “Whip It” from her second record “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded”. In true Minaj fashion, she twerked away on two of her biggest male fans from the audience, and awarded another female fan with a lap dance from one of her backup dancers. Minaj never once took herself too seriously during the show, and always made sure to make the fans feel like they were included in every portion possible.
Every single concert has that moment (all the good ones at least), where the artist sings that one song that gets every single person in the audience hyped up, excited and basically bring the house down. The closing performance of her signature hit “Starships” was definitely that defining moment of the show. Everybody was jumping, and if you looked around, you could see everybody beaming with joy just to be alive and able to experience this moment with their favourite artist. Simply put, Minaj put on the show of her life, and anybody who was there will remember it for a long, long time. Fanboy, out!
Review – Michael Cadoch
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