Only a handful of songs from Nicki Minaj's latest album 'The Pinkprint' will be remembered. A total of 21 tracks make up her third full release (for the deluxe version, anyway), meaning that a lot of filler-material bulks up the latest LP.

'Anaconda', of course, is like marmite. You either love it, or despise it. Strangely though it is genius; here Minaj has taken an absolute classic and crafted something entirely new, though she has undermined the original considerably. Here she raps about her extremely large behind, following a trend of 2014 tracks rhyming about ass (just look at Jennifer Lopez's 'Booty' and Meghan Trainor's 'All About That Bass', to name but a few) and absolutely slays it. It goes without saying that the song is a lyrical mess - as is pretty much everything she raps or sings - but it is genius nevertheless. 'Anaconda' will follow 'Baby Got Back' by becoming a classic. For all the wrong reasons, perhaps.

That is perhaps the most upbeat Minaj is on 'The Pinkprint'; the rest is macabre and melancholy.

'Only' is a slick and rather simplistic ditty in which Minaj barely features, rather Drake, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown take the forefront. 'The Night Is Still Young' veers on the edge of becoming a club banger, but it never quite reaches the heights it perhaps could (and should) have. There is a distinctive lack of club bangers on 'The Pinkprint', with Minaj herself claiming she wanted to return to her hip-hop roots and forget the dance-pop elements of 2012's 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'. Still, hopefully a remix of 'The Night Is Still Young' will be released with a much harder beat, allowing Minaj to command the dance floor once again.

Elsewhere first single 'Pills N Potions' has anthemic qualities, especially in the chorus chants of "I still love, I still love' and here Minaj delivers one of her most personal tracks to date. The Beyoncé-assisted 'Feeling Myself' is nowhere near as good as it should be, however. Anything Beyoncé touches should be pure gold and yet for the most part she is rendered to repeating the same three words over and over. It's only in her brief verse in which Beyoncé claims she "stopped the world" in which the track reaches the heights many hoped for, though unfortunately the repeated chorus interrupts once more. Minaj and Beyoncé should have been amazing together. Alas, we can't have it all.

'Get On Your Knees' is likewise a letdown. After Ariana Grande's grasp on the charts this year one would expect any song she touches to be a pure pop banger, though this isn't the case here. It's sleezy qualities almost render it addictive, but the beat is a huge letdown. This is the trend set by most of 'The Pinkprint' - if better beats had been used Minaj would have had another album of jams. Without the big beats, most of 'The Pinkprint' is forgettable, unfortunately.


'Want Some More' shows some fast-paced rapping by Minaj showing that she does still have it, though unfortunately that is lost in the rest of the track.

Meanwhile 'Four Door Aventador' is completely addictive with its low-key beat and vocals and 'The Crying Game' (with uncredited vocals by Jessie Ware) is simplistic and haunting, and a definite standout from 'The Pinkprint'.

So whilst Minaj may have wanted to reclaim her hip-hop roots, in the charts of today this is perhaps a wrong mantra to take. Fans want raging beats, not lacklustre raps about a Grand Piano. 'The Pinkprint' is a letdown, especially in a year in which we've had sensational debuts from fellow female rappers Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks, though considering Minaj already has millions of fans she can perhaps afford to release a poor album. Just look at Lady Gaga's 'ARTPOP'; that too was terrible, but since Gaga has the fans they'll lap it up anyway. The case will likely be the same here with Minaj. Had she trimmed off ten or so tracks, 'The Pinkprint' would have been genius. Unfortunately the gems are lost amongst the filler.
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