Nicki's new alter depicts that of a Barbie, young, innocent, sweet-talking, soft spoken. Lewinsky's overt sexual lyrics are replaced by covert sexual innuendo. As Minaj continued her career with Young Money, she likens herself more to Barbie, replacing her often sexually revealing poses with coquet-ish facial expressions, various pink, blond and colored wigs and puffy dresses.
An accurate representation of Barbie can be found on the Young Money compilation, Bedrock. A strong believer in her team, Nicki joined her mentor Lil Wayne and the rest of her record label mates on We Are Young Money, the debut album introducing Wayne's group to the mainstream rap industry. The song also served as Minaj's first major radio release which exposed her to the world. Minaj was also featured on the track Roger That where she continued to personify her alter ego Barbie donning her pink and blonde wigs, sparkling corsets, and frequently using different metaphors, punch lines and word play to emphasize her covertly sexual lyrics. Once an underground spark, Nicki was becoming a mainstream firestorm.
As Nicki asserted in 2009 after she had put out her second mixtape, Sucka Free, she was looking to be more than just a female rapper, she wanted to be a mogul. Like most female rappers who she watched growing-up (Foxy Brown, Lil Kim, Trina) Nicki, also entered the rap industry as a sex-symbol. Wearing, posing and acting in a manner that many would call more than promiscuous, she was simply following in the footsteps of those female rappers that came before her.
“When I grew up I saw females doing certain things, and I thought I had to do that exactly. The female rappers of my day spoke about sex a lot, and I thought that to have the success they got, I would have to represent the same thing. When in fact I didn’t have to represent the same thing.”
Part of being a female rapper, and earning a place in that domain, meant adhering to the certain requirements- in this case, it meant to keep up with the boys of this male-saturated field, a woman would have to be a sex-symbol. Now that Minaj had her foot in the door, she was ready to make significant changes. Perhaps it's that Nicki is conscious being a mogul means moving beyond the traditional standards of the female rap industry. In her interview with XXL, Minaj alludes to one of the qualities that put her on the map- namely her ability to see herself as more than a rapper- something that would come with the release of her solo debut in November
"You know what, I'm a female entertainer," Nicki clarified, "but I don't let it offend me when people call me a female MC or female rapper, because I just look at it as a challenge. I'm about to climb over every single barrier and just put females on a different map altogether," she continued. "So I take it as it comes. Like, I don't think in five years people will consider me a female rapper--I'll be, like, an entertainer. But, as of right now, I get it. I started off in the underground hip-hop circuit, so I'm a female rapper right now. But it's just the beginning."
What's a "Harajuku Barbie?" We Are Young Money. Young Money - Bed Rock. More than a Pair of Boutique High Heels. Young Money - Roger That. Kooky and Captivating.