"Truffle Butter" is the best
track on Nicki Minaj's Pinkprint by
a country mile; and it has 'chart-topping hit' smothered
all over it. The fact that a Minaj tune has the potential to be one of her best
without the usual verse-chorus structure is disturbingly amazing; especially
one without a bridge. I'm quite frankly surprised that so many of her hardcore
following have backed this, given its clear electronic sounds - massively
differing from her previous releases. Though (being brutally honest.) this is
the best Minaj track since "Superbass", and it's shamefully a 'bonus'
track on The Pinkprint.
The ear-catching nature of "Truffle Butter" is down to producer Nineteen85, who (according to Complex) has such an unimportant role at OVO
Sound, that he's got a barber and Drake's personal trainer to surpass in order
to reach level two on the OVO pyramid. He has no credit on Drake's latest
'mixtape' album - though gaining recognition through Drake's best tracks:
"Hold On, We're Going Home" and "0 to 100 / The Catch Up" -
not too bad. Regardless of Nineteen85's actual production contributions on Drake's
music - he's clearly the man that's linked "Truffle Butter" to Maya Jane Coles' "What They Say", for that, he must be appreciated within
Drake's clique. He's not only showing an interest in the ever developing
hip-house genre, but bringing positive exposure to an artist who probably earns
less in a year than how much Lil Wayne made with his verse on "Truffle
Butter" - an example of when rapping is vastly inferior to the
sample.
One can only assume Minaj, Drake, and Lil Wayne are going to split
from Cash Money not only for their control over solo recordings, but to form
some rap supergroup called The Trio or something. They're so involved with each
other’s music it seems almost inevitable Onika, Aubrey, and Dwayne will cross
paths once their deals are done. I've lost count how many times these three
have collaborated together, but it seems like a lot - it seems to work chart
wise, and financially. Here on "Truffle Butter", the 'three rappers'
approach works better than the 'featured artist' you see as credited. It's only
a Nicki Minaj song because it's on The Pinkprint. Honestly, all
three would have been better off if they released it under a different moniker
keeping it away from The
Pinkprint, as it's fundamentally wasted.
It seems Tyga (Mustard on the beat?) was dropped from Minaj's
group of guests prior to The
Pinkprint being releases,
which allowed Lil Wayne to give the final verse. In all honesty, Lil Wayne's is
the better out of the three. Drake - although I’m getting used to his snobby
attitude - offers nothing new to the domain, it feels as if I've heard his
verse 10 times before. Minaj offers her usual vocal cuts, though unfortunately
her soundboard forgot to include a 'Pull-up', though the listener does get a
'Yo'. Again, her verse sounds similar to previous Minaj tracks where bragging
comes across as arrogance rather than sustenance: "I'm
still the highest sellin' female rapper, for the record, Man, this a 65
million single sold, I ain't gotta compete with a single soul." - Another reason for audiences to argue the talent /
money claim. On the other hand, as mentioned above... Lil Wayne actually succeeds
in the bragging because it's funny rather than annoying: "I
could be broke and keep a million dollar smile." / "LOL to the bank checkin' my
account, bank teller flirtin' after checkin' my account." Overall,
the lyrical value isn't so important on a track with such an infuriatingly
catchy beat - and that's props to the creator Maya Jane Coles, it doesn't
matter who's delivering a verse on this - it could be a 14 year old with a rap
dream, or a collection of Star Trek quotes put together - the beat will
prevail.
~Eddie Gibson
~Eddie Gibson
