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After many delays and cheeky promo—see what we did there?—Nicki Minaj’s new album, The Pinkprint, is finally in stores. Whether you downloaded the bootleg, listened to a guilt-free stream or are part of the media, everyone has an opinion about the project. 

Is the YMCMB Barbie’s third album the charm? After reading these reviews; it’s clear some of these writers did their best to say “It’s a-ight” over like 500 words. Some definitely liked it, th0ough. Here is what critics and notable publications had to say.

 

The Atlantic

So while annoyances at the fact that The Pinkprint isn’t the hard rap album that was expected is understandable, in truth, zagging when people expected her to zig is true to the Minaj mission.

Billboard

While it’s too early to tell if The Pinkprint is a classic, it’s safe to say it’s her best album to date.

HipHopDX4/5

The Pinkprint runs a middle path between pop over exertion and real lyricism, creating an everything for someone aesthetic that Nicki doesn’t allow to shift into wastefullness.

Idolator – 4/5

The moments where Nicki reflects on her increasingly fraught relationships – when she seems most ready to pop some pills – are The Pinkprint‘s most brutal.

The Los Angeles Times

Throughout “The Pinkprint,” she’s intent on channeling her talent to explore and document her many moods. The combination is often, if not always, intoxicating.

 

NME5/10

Minaj’s third album comes off as a bog-standard chart-ready hip-hop/pop crossover, full of autotuned choruses, guest spots, scatterings of dance music, big singles and ample padding – at 19 tracks it feels twice as long as it should be.

MTV

Overall, there’s a real comfort on The Pinkprint, as Nicki completely lets go to be herself. For once it isn’t about how you feel about Nicki Minaj, but rather how Nicki Minaj feels about Nicki Minaj.

The New York Times

“The Pinkprint” is her third studio album, and like the first two it’s full of compromises and half-successes.

Pitchfork7.5/10

For an artist repeatedly accused of pandering to the unrefined palates of teenyboppers, The Pinkprint’s production and feature roster is surprisingly sophisticated, if a bit scattershot.

SPIN – 7/10

On the one hand, it makes for a densely packed collection that settles certain areas of speculation. But Minaj forces herself into her own box, muting her own strengths and songwriting abilities in favor of excising her emotional demons.

XXL

Not a review per se, but the longtime rap pub jumped out the window and compared Nicki’s project to Jay Z’s The Blueprint. That’s not going too well. 

With the release of Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint 13 years after Jay Z released The Blueprint, it’s only right to compare the two projects.

Photo: WENN.co