Member Since: 11/7/2011
Posts: 10,399
|
Critics review "The Boys"
Quote:
On her new single, "The Boys" [Featuring Cassie], Nicki Minaj gets weird, wild, and downright wonderful.
"The Boys" stirs a perfect storm between clever hip hop, potent pop, and soulful acoustic pondering. You read that all right. There's an outer space folk bridge that'll blow your mind.
Minaj lets haters know what they can do via a blunt, brilliant verse before the otherworldly cyber beat funnels into an impressive infectious robotized refrain. Then, utterly unexpectedly, the track descends into an acoustic strum and Cassie pristinely singing, "You get high and **** a bunch of girls and then cry on top of the world".
It's a smart, sly rumination on "The Boys" and it hits hard in an otherworldly vulnerable space.
There's no one as exciting as Nicki Minaj in either pop or hip hop. Right when you think you've got her figured out, she doesn't flip the script, she burns it with pure fire.
This is one of Minaj's best tracks yet and a landmark song for 2012. Thanks for changing the game again, Nicki. The barbz are gonna freak on this one….
|
Quote:
Nicki Minaj's strength has been her ability to pair her pop sensibilities with her raw, underground rap roots.
On her new single, “The Boys,” the pop-rap minx has seamlessly married the two styles, perhaps in hopes of highlighting the rerelease of her sophomore disc, "Pink Friday Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up" (due in November).
“The Boys,” the reissue’s first single, pairs the bawdy rapper with R&B songstress Cassie (known less for her music and more for her long-rumored romance with labelhead Diddy) for the track. It's a fun but pithy kiss-off to men who try to buy love with money and jewels.
The single is a fresh reminder of the Minaj tracks her rap fans love. Many of those same admirers feared her street style was taking a backseat to pop songs dedicated to 128-beats-per-minute (i.e. most of the tracks that bogged down the second half of "Pink Friday Roman Reloaded.”)
“Your lipstick stain smells like a cheap hotel, diamond watches and a gold chain can’t make my frown turn around. The boys always spending all they money on love,” Cassie purrs before Minaj unleashes a venomous hook about playboy suitors that "want to touch it, taste it, see it, pet it, ... it, own it."
The throbbing beat, harsh basslines and hyperactive breaks beg for immediate radio play. Minaj’s crisp, rapid-fire delivery and punchy one-liners – bonus points for her “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta” and “Blossom” drops – set up Cassie’s smoldering ego crusher of a chorus.
A version of the track, rumored to be the second single from Cassie’s severely delayed sophomore set, leaked several months ago.
"You get high, love a bunch of girls, and then cry on top of the world, I hope you have the time of your life,” Cassie sings. “I hope I don't lose it tonight."
Sorry, Roman, this Minaj needs to come out and play more often.
|
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,1500026.story
Quote:
Whenever a new Nicki Minaj song comes out, it’s fun to guess which Nicki will show up: The sugar-sweet pop star of “Super Bass” and “Starships,” or the snarling rhyme-smith of “Monster” and “Beez in the Trap”?
With “The Boys,” the first new cut off the upcoming reissue Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up, Minaj comes as close as she ever has to blending her two identities. She goes hard in the verses over gunshot snare drums, throwing out some hyperactive accents and a “Blossom” reference for good measure, before giving way to Cassie (backed up by the guitar line from “Boyfriend”) on the singalong chorus. The result is catchy as hell, but with enough “credibility” (ugh, we know) that we don’t think even Hot 97 will have a problem with it. Maybe all it takes is for someone other than Nicki to sing the hook?
Also, we’re digging the “Technologic” shoutout on the bridge, but unless we’re mistaken there’s an even better random reference: Is Cassie quoting “Hey Soul Sister” for a second there?
|
4 out of 5 stars
http://popdust.com/2012/09/13/the-si...ssie-the-boys/
Quote:
|
Called “The Boys,” the new single nicely tightwalks between Nicki’s increasingly distinct genre interests, mixing pearly pop with rap swag and a tiny smidge of soulful balladry.
|
http://music-mix.ew.com/2012/09/14/n...the-boys-song/
|
|
|
|
Someone please explain to me what's so amazing about this song? 
