"Starships" Nicki Minaj

How do you solve a problem like Nicki Minaj? When she burst onto the music scene two years ago, stealing every song on which she was featured with her maniacal, inspired rhymes and endless alter egos, she was hailed as the savior of female rap. Then, last summer, the much poppier "Super Bass" became her biggest, most acclaimed crossover hit and suddenly everyone was asking whether she had turned into a Lady Gaga wannabe. Even for serious fans, it's become increasingly difficult to defend Minaj from those accusations; her last guest turn, for example, was as a hook girl for David Guetta. And the transformation seemed practically complete at the Grammys Sunday night, as she was escorted down the red carpet by a man dressed as the Pope before performing an exorcism-themed set that felt eerily similar to Gaga's "Paparazzi" production from the 2009 VMAs.

Now comes "Starships," the first "official" single from Minaj's forthcoming Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. It's a perfectly fun dance track that will fit perfectly well on pop radio playlists this spring—but it represents an utterly unnecessary move for an artist like Minaj. Produced by RedOne (who helmed Lady Gaga's first album, The Fame), this club banger about, well, living it up at the club is reminiscent of Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" gone to a rave. It's not necessarily a bad combination, but it could be a song by anyone. Does Minaj really want to be the next disposable pop princess? Has she simply been fooling us all along? Right now, it seems like she could use some inspiration to get her career back on track, and she should start by taking a page from Missy Elliott, arguably the greatest female emcee of all time. Elliott was renowned for her innovative, mind-bending catalog and visual artistry, both of which still seem ahead of their time years later. "Starships," for all its pandering to current trends, is merely B-level work, though it deserves a C- for wasted potential.