When
Nicki Minaj
's third mixtape,
Beam Me Up Scotty
, was released in 2009, it signaled her move from promising rapper to soon-to-be superstar. At that point, the rapper's razor-edged lyricism and overflow of personality had prompted
Lil Wayne
to sign her as quickly as possible, and the electric
took the hunger, wit, and charisma already exhibited on her first two mixtapes to new dimensions. By the end of the following year,
Minaj
would be a mainstream success, refining the raw force of her early material with a pop sheen that landed her in the top of the charts. As her fame grew, however, many fans looked to the diamond-sharp performances on
as
's most essential material, capturing an unbridled intensity that would experience some generation loss as she grew more popular with the masses. Eleven years after its original release, a 2021 update of
reshuffles the track listing somewhat, cutting some of the original tunes and replacing them with a few new songs. Still intact are era-defining tracks like a remix of
Drake
's then-ubiquitous "Best I Ever Had" with
inserting a circular flow and new hooks of her own, as well as the high-impact
collaboration "I Get Crazy." The difference between the rough and rugged 2009 material and the newly recorded tracks is noticeable in terms of production and energy. New songs "Fractions" and "Seeing Green" aim for the unvarnished dazzle of the original release, yet fall short when compared to the unstoppable push of tracks like "Gotta Go Hard" and the lo-fi character of "Still I Rise." On the whole, however, the revamped edition of
loses none of the original's strengths. Listening back to
just before her ascent to global fame, it's easy to hear a dexterous talent that sounds not just from another time, but strange and vibrant enough to sometimes sound beamed in from another planet. ~ Fred Thomas