"Stupid Hoe" Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj's alter ego Roman Zolanski has inspired some moments of maniacal brilliance in the rapper, including her blistering guest verse on Kanye West's "Monster" and the raging Lil' Kim takedown "Roman's Revenge." That same musical madness seems to be the goal of "Stupid Hoe," another Kim-directed diss track that was recently released to create buzz for Minaj's upcoming record, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. Unfortunately, the track is just crazy, no genius, and it's doubtful that it will create too much excitement among fans for an all-Roman concept album. (Clearly Minaj's label agrees; just today, Reloaded saw its release date pushed back two months.) Jumping through a clapping bass rhythm full of bloops, whistles and sirens, "Hoe" is energetic and playful, almost like a children's rhyme. But it lacks the kind of witty lyricism that made many of Minaj's prior hits so immediately ear-catching; the song's chorus, for example, is nothing more than a seemingly endless repetition of the line "You a stupid ho." There's just not much of a hook there—or a song structure, really. It's a ramshackle tour of Minaj's most visceral artistic instincts, but the ideas are undercooked. B-