Since signing with Lil' Wayne's Young Money label back in 2009, Nicki Minaj has carved her own niche in the industry as the princess of hip-hop. Her unique style and sensual demeanor have garnered substantial popularity and have solidified her as the denominate symbol female artist in mainstream hip-hop. Her debut album, Pink Friday, saw incredible success in its first week of sales, and eventually became certified platinum.

Minaj has released her second major studio album building off of the momentum of the first one, and continuing her undying obsession with the colour pink. Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded contains a whopping 19 tracks, and the deluxe edition features 22. The production cast, although not as star-studded as the first record, includes highprofile producers including Hit Boy, Canadian T-Minus and RedOne who worked on five of the tracks. The album also features the likes of Rick Ross, Drake and Lil' Wayne.

“Right By My Side” is the second single of the album, and features Chris Brown. The song is produced by Oak, who does an exceptional job on the beat. The sound is busy yet soft, as it should be for a mainstream single. Brown sings in the second verse, while Minaj sings in the first and only raps on the hook, which was a bit disappointing. There is a line that is drawn as to how much a rapper should sing, and Minaj stands just inches of not crossing it on this one. That being said, the song is very catchy and was clearly made for the radio.

“Fire Burns” is a track made to pad the album. The three minutes features Minaj singing about her long lost man burning in hell for leaving her. I'm serious. The singing is bad, the lyrics are poor and don't make sense, and the song doesn't make use of a pretty good beat with a lot of potential. Skip this one.

“Champion” includes Drake, Young Jeezy and Nas, who I was absolutely overjoyed to see featured. The beat, produced by TMinus, is slow and not very busy, but perfect for all four rappers to do work on. Jeezy's verse is the most forgettable out of the group, but is quickly followed by Nas, who tears it up as usual with vintage sophistication, flow and intensity. The track is one of only very few actual rap songs and features Minaj's single best verse on the entire album. This is easily the best song on the record.

Honourable mention: “I Am Your Leader” featuring Cam'ron and Rick Ross.

The album is quite different from what has made Minaj's career. In Pink Friday, the lyrics were cocky, witty and simile laden, while the beats were flashy and abrasive. Her second album is dumbed down to a softer, more radio-friendly level plagued with too many vocals. The record had more of an R&B vibe to it than the first, with Minaj over-using the singing voice that she doesn't have on the majority of the songs. This is something that I usually would love to see rappers leave to those who can actually sing, so they can focus on what they do best: rap. Minaj is not an R&B singer, and she got carried away too much on her newest album. Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded is fun to listen to, but like many sophomore projects, it doesn't match the polish that the first one had.

Rating: 2 out of 5