搬運(yùn)自：微信公眾號(hào)【評(píng)論搬一堆】（在原文基礎(chǔ)上添加了英語(yǔ)原文與排版調(diào)整）

翻譯：Yana.Z

校正：Iris六百零七/Ryan-Chopin

To reign over the charts, the critics, and the streets, a hip-hop star with pop ambitions must be everything to everyone while holding on tight to their identity. This balancing act is especially unforgiving for women, and?Nicki Minaj?has contended with these double standards and sky-high expectations for over a decade. Her biggest chart successes have come with songs like 2014’s bawdy “Anaconda,” and the effervescent “Super Bass” from her 2010 debut, but there are still incessant calls for some combination of the take-no-prisoners snarl of her breakout verse on “Monster” and serious art made up of reflection and maturity. But with?Queen, Nicki jettisons all the industry madness, drowns out the noise, and creates rap the way?she?believes it should sound.

要想統(tǒng)治榜單、拉攏輿論和獨(dú)占鰲頭，對(duì)于一個(gè)有成為流行天后野心的說(shuō)唱歌星來(lái)說(shuō)，必須在打動(dòng)每個(gè)人的同時(shí)，緊緊堅(jiān)守住自己的個(gè)性。此般保持平衡對(duì)一位女性來(lái)說(shuō)是尤其困難的，但Nicki Minaj十多年來(lái)一直與這些雙重標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和高期望值抗?fàn)?。她出道以?lái)，2014年發(fā)行的歌曲“Anaconda”便在排行榜上取得了巨大的成功；她在2010年的首張專輯中，利用俏皮活潑的“Super Bass”吸引了大眾的眼球，除此之外，同樣不斷引人關(guān)注的還有“Monster”里具有攻擊性的橋段，以及引發(fā)人生思考、追求成熟的音樂(lè)藝術(shù)作品。但在《Queen》中，Nicki拋棄了整個(gè)行業(yè)的熱門(mén)價(jià)值取向和元素，屏蔽了外界噪音，并堅(jiān)持自己的本心創(chuàng)造了屬于自己的說(shuō)唱作品。

Due to hip-hop’s?sexist, one-at-a-time cap on women dominating the genre, this is the first time Nicki has ever released an album with another commercially successful woman also climbing rap’s ranks. And whatever pressure—whether real or spectator-projected—is there, she rises to the occasion with?Queen, her most rap-oriented full-length to date. Never lacking for charisma and attitude, her flows and cadences are a whirlwind of husky aggression and bouncing animation. She sends shots in every direction (“Don’t duck if it don’t apply,” she sneers on one track) with the confidence of a woman holding court in a kingdom she conquered. From Michael Jackson to Sizzla to Patti Labelle, she drops so many names and references that someone could get a halfway decent music (fashion and sports too) lesson if they Googled them all. They spill out as both venerating homages and a testament to her high-powered lifestyle.

一直以來(lái)，由于嘻哈音樂(lè)對(duì)女性的性別歧視，向來(lái)只有一位女性能站在這個(gè)流派的頂端，這也是Minaj第一次與另一位在商業(yè)上取得巨大成功的說(shuō)唱女歌手同時(shí)段發(fā)行專輯。不管有多大的壓力，不管是真實(shí)的還是旁觀者主觀意義上揣測(cè)的，她都用她最具有說(shuō)唱文化深度的《Queen》來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì)。她從來(lái)不缺乏魅力和態(tài)度，她的技巧和節(jié)奏是最強(qiáng)有力的攻擊，就像跳躍感極強(qiáng)的動(dòng)畫(huà)旋風(fēng)。她像一位女王在征服自己的王國(guó)一樣，朝各個(gè)方向發(fā)起進(jìn)攻。從Michael Jackson到Sizzla，再到Patti Labelle，她聯(lián)系了太多的名字和事件，以至于如果都在Google上查閱這些人，那么可能會(huì)得到一次女王音樂(lè)課的機(jī)會(huì)（和時(shí)尚與體育相關(guān)的）。這些不僅僅是她在向前輩致敬，更是她的生活豐富充實(shí)的佐證。

With the album’s contentious rollout,?marred?by?social media drama?and middling singles, Nicki really buried the two big ledes here. “Barbie Dreams,” which adapts Notorious B.I.G.’s “Just Playing (Dreams)” and updates Nicki’s own “Dreams 07” cut from her 2007 mixtape?Playtime Is Over, is a flamethrowing pink slip delivered with a wink. Positioning some of rap’s biggest names in her crosshairs, she playfully jabs at her peers, turning their reputations into reasons they won’t be seeing her in the bedroom. It highlights the kind of quick wit and humor that earned her the spotlight to begin with. And in a proud display of her Caribbean background, she enlists fellow Trini-rhymer Foxy Brown for the patois-flavored “Coco Chanel.” The two share a magnetic synergy as they trade verses over a dancehall production that interpolates the classic?Showtime Riddim. The cross-generational collaboration is significant—particularly for Nicki, who is rarely caught on wax with other female rappers and considers Brown an?idol.

隨著這張專輯的推出，社交媒體上的鬧劇和二流單曲的影響讓它備受爭(zhēng)議，但Minaj真的在專輯中留了兩把刷子。改編自Notorious B.I.G.的“Just Playing(Dreams) ”和Minaj07年的《Playing Is Over》中的“Dreams 07”及更新后的“Barbie Dreams”，是一首難得的良曲。她在歌中利用說(shuō)唱界當(dāng)紅人物的名聲，溫柔地抨擊，指出他們不能和她共處一室享受樂(lè)趣的原因。這個(gè)手段突出了她的機(jī)智和幽默，而這也是她一開(kāi)始就備受矚目的原因。在“Coco Chanel”中，Minaj找來(lái)了同為特立尼達(dá)人的Foxy Brown，用當(dāng)?shù)乜谝糇院赖卣故玖思永毡群５谋尘啊Ｋ麄兒献鞲木幹谱髁薙howtime Riddim的“Dancehall”，產(chǎn)生了奇妙的磁場(chǎng)協(xié)同效應(yīng)。這次跨世代的合作意義重大，特別是對(duì)于Minaj來(lái)說(shuō)，她很少和其他女說(shuō)唱歌手合作，況且Brown是她的偶像。

With those peaks coming at either end of the album, the middle faces an impossible task of keeping the pace over an hour-long hike. The lows range from fine (“Bed”) to forgettable (“Thought I Knew You”), but the highs are immaculate: The electrifying “LLC” and the twerk-ready “Good Form” showcase the rapper’s inimitable technique, the one that turned heads in the first place. Little tricks, like her play on the phonetics of “good form,” which she alternates to sound like “good for him,” are the kind of flourishes that set her apart. On the slow-burner “Come See About Me,” she gives the bravado a rest and, over a swelling piano-laced production, reminisces about a past lover in a manner more hopeful than heartbroken. Like the sappy?The Pinkprint?closer “Grand Piano” or the yearning “Save Me” from?Pink Friday, there’s always a moment of pause when she goes full-ballad. But even though singing isn’t exactly Nicki’s secret weapon, it offers an additional emotional texture that isn’t available to her when she’s flowing.

這兩首歌分別是這張專輯的兩座山峰，所以中間的歌曲就面臨著一個(gè)艱巨到幾乎不可能完成的任務(wù)，那就是在這長(zhǎng)達(dá)一小時(shí)的專輯曲目中脫穎而出。專輯的低谷是從精細(xì)的“Bed”到毫無(wú)記憶點(diǎn)的“Thought I Knew You”，但其高潮是無(wú)懈可擊的：激動(dòng)人心的“LLC”和“Good Form”展示了Minaj獨(dú)特到無(wú)人能及的技巧。一些小把戲（例如她在“Good Form”中的發(fā)音和吐詞上，聽(tīng)起來(lái)像是“good for him”）使她脫穎而出。在“Come See About Me”這個(gè)慢節(jié)奏歌曲中，她收起了自己的強(qiáng)大氣場(chǎng)，伴隨著鋼琴曲，她以一種充滿希望而不是心碎的方式回憶前任。在粉印中的“Grand Piano”和《Pink Friday》中的“Save Me”中我們可以發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)Minaj在唱抒情曲時(shí)，總是會(huì)有片刻的停頓來(lái)傾訴緩慢的情感。盡管唱歌并不是Minaj的秘密武器，但它提供了一種額外的情感層次，這是她在說(shuō)唱過(guò)程中無(wú)法獲得的。

Nicki has spent her career engaged in a battle against being boxed in. The bubbly pop markers that separate her albums from her early mixtapes were evidence of her fear of becoming just another rapper.?Queen?is the safe and sturdy middle ground. The lyrical barbs are there, but nearly every song is glossy enough to spend some time in the Top 40. The album offers hints of nearly every era and iteration of her career thus far: the razor-tongued Nicki the Ninja, the sexually-charged Nicki Lewinsky, and even the zany Roman teases an appearance at the tail end of “Barbie Dreams.” The connections between past and present, between style and form, make?Queen?feel like her most creatively honest album. She remains a force—whether you’re willing to bow or not.

在其職業(yè)生涯中，Minaj一直致力于一場(chǎng)反對(duì)被禁錮、被定型的斗爭(zhēng)。那些與她早期的混音作品大相徑庭的泡沫流行元素，證明了她不甘停留于一個(gè)平庸的說(shuō)唱歌手?！禥ueen》是安全而堅(jiān)固的中間地帶，這其中每一首歌曲幾乎都被打磨得光鮮亮麗，值得在榜單前40名待上一段時(shí)間。這張專輯透露了她職業(yè)生涯中每一個(gè)時(shí)代的線索：言辭尖刻的尼基·忍者、性感嫵媚的尼基·萊溫斯基，甚至連Roman也出現(xiàn)在“Barbie Dreams”的結(jié)尾。過(guò)去與現(xiàn)在、個(gè)性與定式之間的聯(lián)系，成就了《Queen》這張她最有創(chuàng)意的專輯。不管你愿不愿意俯首稱臣，Minaj都擁有一股勢(shì)不可擋的力量。