Nikki Minaj = ?

Now look. We been hearing her all summer, just like we heard all about the "Milkshake"* in 2003. We been thinking 'bout her, not just in re: brovah Noz' interesting post on "Monster," which gets right the fact that she's not just a novelty.

She's playing out the dancehall queen this summer, right down to the islander growling flow. And she's busy showing all the boys that she's in the yard. It's what you do in the summer. Bring on the milkshake.

There's much more going on than the usual dancehall riot, here. There's a big thread in the tradition that takes the sassy over the top to something from the Marvin Gaye fantasy comic book maufactured by Prince in 1982.† It reaches back past Miles muse,‡ and what we gonna do over @ the blue light is throw up something that conjures this tricky line back, even further back. Back. Forth. Side to side.

They say I'm different? Of course. But from what?

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Commentary on Recent Posts

Over @ the Blue Light we've thrown down a post on Betty Davis (see below as well).

The process has lead us to work the Missy Elliott Tip a bit today. We remain impressed w/ how she owns and works through the tradition.

Let's call it good in this post, just in the recognition that this thread in the fabric is a full of color.

While We're On The Subject

The contradiction: there's sex on the one hand and beauty on the other. How do you turn those into power when you, your people have had little or none that they can speak of? Some examples:

What We're Working Through

A friend asked us where to start w/ Betty Davis, so we'll be throwing some stones in the pathway over @ the Blue Light in the next 24 to 48. We think the right way to do it is to start in two places at once: the contradictions and fact that she's not off center, she's in the mainstream of the tradition.