Now, it can be told. Nicki Minaj has emotions too, and it is in full display in a track off The Pinkprint called “Grand Piano.” In spite of the rather gobbledygook songs, she is best known for like “Anaconda” and “Get On Your Knees,” Minaj can also deliver a solid performance without rapping. In other words, the manufactured highly sexualized image Minaj has always been portraying is just a façade so that she could sell. Underneath it all, there lies a vulnerable woman needing affection. At the end of the day, Minaj is also a human being capable of feeling pain, like most of us.
“Grand Piano” is not released as a single, as Minaj, or her label prefers to craft an image for Minaj that is more likely a celebritized modern woman who caters for the sexually starved. The influence Minaj places in popular culture is mostly about booties and sexual acts. However, “Grand Piano” stands on its own even without all the pretenses and scandalous tactics the singer is greatly known for.
Minaj’s lyrics are always faced with ambivalence, because, most of the time, they are only about self-gratification. On the contrary, “Grand Piano” has a very good prose that exposes the singer’s range of emotions. The song’s vulnerability is a testament to Minaj’s artistry that is rather concealed. There is a real artist inside of Minaj that she is yet to set free. Truth be told, it must be soon. Songs like “Grand Piano” should be heard by the world. It’s actually an excellent record trapped inside a box of senselessness.
It really feels good to know that Minaj is capable of singing something like “Grand Piano.” Lyrically, one can feel the maturity in Minaj. She is a grown woman, after all, with experience that must be told to people who may be able to relate. She is an artist, albeit the commercial restrictions people have placed on her. She has a strong musicality that is rather hidden than emphasized. Vocally, Minaj has some real pipes without the unnecessary auto-tune and studio enhancers. Who knows Minaj is capable of producing a line as excellent as, “Cold hearted shame you’ll remain just afraid in the dark / The people are saying that you have been playing my heart like a grand piano.”