Author: Kara B (Twitter: @KaraBrazey20)
Weeks of anticipation and build up has bought us to the moment we have been waiting for. The release of Nicki Minaj’s first solo single since 2019’s “Megatron”. “Super Freaky Girl” has officially been released after weeks of teasing and build up and baebey, Nicki Minaj did not disappoint. The queenz and kingz are gagged! “Super Freaky Girl” was accompanied with a really dope animated video that I think trumps the need for a traditional video.
‘Super Freaky Girl’ is a sample of the 1981 hit song from Rick James titled “Super Freak”. And yes, we are aware of the talk about the use or I should say, overuse of samples lately. The past 4 years it has been deemed a “cheat code” because a lot of artist use the familiarity of classic songs to sell the song and offer nothing new. Just riding the wave of a previous songs success. But this is Nicki Minaj we are talking about here and she made that sample succumb to her will. She didn’t just rap over a classic, she bought her legendary style to the track and owned it.
Nicki doesn’t use the sample as a crutch to make up for mediocre lyrics, lack of wordplay or to camouflage her lack of skills that we expect from rappers. She pays homage to the original while reinventing the sound and familiarizing the classic toa much younger generation. The throwback vibes of feel good music with a splash of Minaj. It’s Nicki Minaj so while the lyrics are raunchy, “Super Freaky Girl” can be enjoyed by both the newer generation and fans of that era.
The track opens with the iconic “Super Freak” riff and late great Rick James (RIP) singing “she’s alright, that’s girl’s alright with me, yeah Ay yo, hey, hey, hey, hey” and as the remixed bass filled instrumentals come in, The Queen begins her slayage. Nicki asked on Twitter prior to the release of the track, if we thought her 1st or 2nd verse would be the best verse and I chose the 2nd. I chose correctly. The flow in conjunction with Nicki’s impeccable timing with the beat is sick.
Nicki raps playfully, “I got a princess face, a killer body, samurai mind” then she quips, “His ex btch went up against me but she didn’t survive”. There are a few things that can be unpacked by that bar,but Nicki proves, while a song can be raunchy and playful, it can still pack hell of punchlines, wordplay, entendres and skilled rapping.
The 2nd verse in my opinion is where Nicki shines with her laser sharp wit, flow, tone and cadence. I’m always in awe at the way she can approach a beat and mend it seamlessly with her vocals. Even the subtle inflections in her voice come across to me as a very well thought out placement on the song. She even pays homage to her classic freestyle “Boss Ass Btch” which she recently included on her 2009 “Beam Me Up Scotty” mixtape official release to streaming services last year. When your pen game is as strong Nicki’s, your bars will last a lifetime.
One of my favorite bars from the 2nd verse is “get me Rocky ASAP, ni**a, word to Rih” which should be self-explanatory. We needed “Super Freaky Girl” and it gave everything it was supposed to. I can imagine this song will be in heavy rotation for the rest of the year because of the feel-good throwback vibe, the infectious remixed instrumental coupled with Nicki Minaj’s wittiness and charisma that commands this track.
In the words of the late Rick James, “It’s Nicki Minaj Btch”.