Jem…
Jem is excitement!
Oooo Jem…
Jem is adventure!
Ooooo…
Glamour and glitter,
Fashion and fame!
In case you weren’t alive in the 1980s (or at least weren’t old enough to notice), those are the lyrics to the theme song from the top-rated Saturday morning cartoon “Jem”, which followed the adventures of the irrepressible Jerrica Benton – owner of Starlight Music by day, lead singer of the hologram-assisted all-female rock band Jem and the Holograms by night. In essence, she was sort of like an animated, Reagan-era version of Hannah Montana…only way cooler.
So why am I bringing this up? Only because the very moment I laid eyes on the cover art for Nicki Minaj’s forthcoming second album “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded” – which the hip-popper released via Twitter earlier today – that defunct and spectacularly dated cartoon was the first thing I thought of. Big hair? Check! Explosion of sickeningly-garish fluorescent colors? Check! Come-hither sideways glance? Check! A “truly outrageous” sense of fashion, fun and LSD-tinged girl power? Check, check and check!
And in a thematic way, it makes an odd sort of sense, seeing as “Reloaded” is allegedly a showcase for Minaj’s alter-ego, the flamboyant, take-no-prisoners gay demon (or something) Roman Zolanski. Now all she needs is her very own version of The Misfits – the bitter, snobbish all-girl band that served as the Holograms’ cold-hearted arch-rivals on the show. The resulting album could be called “Pink Friday: Nicki and Roman vs. The Stupid Hoes”.
Nicki, are you listening?
You can check out the album art (followed by an added surprise) below…
“Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded” is scheduled for release on April 3.
Follow me on Twitter @HitFixChris