There are, of course, a few bright spots on the album. But there's a problem when all of the standouts are "guilty pleasures." Little Freak is one of the albums most alluring cuts. Polow Da Don and Esther Dean's production and songwriting respectively, combined with one of the most unlikely Stevie Wonder samples you could ever imagine make an all-around great track.
But from the first listen, something about the song struck me as disconcerting.
There's the chorus.
If you're fu**ing with me
Really fu**ing with me you go get some girls and bring them to me
if you fu**in with me
Really fu**ing with me you let her put her hands in your pants
be my little freak
The chorus is in and of itself is problematic, but it is so unremarkable it hardly warrants close attention.
The trope of male choice of multiple partners in highly sexualized contexts is in no way new to music; however, it is Nicki Minaj's presence as a sexual intermediary which complicates the matter.
I really like your kitty cat
and if you let me touch her
I know you're not a bluffer
I'll take you to go see usher
and if you let me touch her
I know you're not a bluffer
I'll take you to go see usher
The problem lies not in her sexual orientation, but her willingness to play into the bisexual fantasies of male onlookers wherein women are objects. Nicki Minaj leaps at the opportunity to capitalize her purposely ambiguous sexuality.
This too wouldn't have registered as blip on my radar had I not understood the background of Nicki's public sexual identity.
Throughout her short career, Nicki Minaj has faced speculation about her sexual preference. Many anonymous bloggers contend Nicki nee Onika Maraj, once an out of the closet lesbian, has chosen to mitigate her identity in order fit into the narrow mold of acceptable oversexed expression carved out by rap's most successful artist of the past 15 years, Lil Kim.
Kim/Nicki comparison aside. This is not empowerment. Nicki, arguably the hottest personality in hip-hop, has been reduced to playing the role of willing pawn in a game wherein Usher is king. She is, in effect, the prostitute sent by her pimp to lure an unsuspecting victim into their sexual trap.
The song and video clearly send two interrelated messages. Homosexual interactions are only acceptable when mediated by someone of the opposite gender. Furthermore, female pleasure is irrelevant as long as the men involved are satisfied.
Let's be clear. Usher is not talking about adventurous sexual behaviors within the confines of a level, mutually-beneficial sexual relationship (which I'm all for). This is pure, unabashed sexual exploitation.
