Queen Talk: Beam Me Up Scotty

By: Tené B. La Esorita & Lex Lavish

Nicki Minaj, aka Nicki Lewinsky, Nicki the Ninja, Nicki the Boss, Nicki the Harajuku Barbie, has "did it on 'em" again. The Trinidadian Queens Native rapper has been delivering albums, hits, and features for a decade. Barbie's most iconic mixtape released in 2009, named ``Beam Me Up Scotty" has just made a reappearance in a big way. As a young Queens girl, I can't begin to express how major this is for Barbz and female fans from Queens, New York. I was ten years old when "Beam me up Scotty” came out, and may I say No ONE could tell me Nicki was not THE QUEEN. Before her blow up, young females in my generation did not have any female artists to identify with. Many never heard of Lil Kim from the early '90s or were not allowed to listen to her. Therefore, much of the music was male rapper and pop-based. In the years of 2000-2010, there were many popular rap artists with songs that projected the sexualization, power over women, and their placement in the entertainment industry.  

Many absorbed these lyrics that degraded and undervalued women as a young girl in a melting pot of fast pace movement and child development. As a result, many of these ideologies became a hindrance to  the growth of young girls' self-esteem and overall progression.Nicki Minaj was a savior for young girls' ears when she came into the game with songs like “Itty Bitty Piggy" and "I Get Crazy." For a change, a female from the same city was not only spitting fire but talking HER talk like a female boss making her path in the music industry. Lyrics like

 "So I got a bad-bitch mentality

'Cause I just came from another galaxy

I be with the president up in the White House

If we in the Oval Office, then the lights out." 

Had Queen's girls around the country backtracking to see who this woman was killing verse after verse. It was a right of passage in friend groups and sang verbatim at all parties. Around this time, you weren't a real fan if you didn't beg your parents to let you get bangs just like Nicki Minaj. As a naive and in-confident twelve-year-old, this mixtape was a huge part of the journey to taking the power of my body back and learning how to play "the game" as a black girl in New York. 

Eleven years later, I am SO thankful for this re-release. All of this time, if you wanted to listen to this gem, you had to stop whatever playlist flow you created and access youtube. Now the access is even more expansive due to the album being on Spotify, Apple Music, and other DSPs. Best believe this mixtape-turned album is held in the same regard, and the plays will be running up all summer!!!!!!! 

Fellow Barb signing out. 

-Tené B. La Escritora 

Coincidentally, on the morning that Nicki Minaj announced that she would be re-releasing her breakout mixtape from 2009 called Beam Me Up Scotty, I was bumping the song Shop-a-holic. This song features Gucci Mane and Bobby Valentino, and it just takes me back to when Nicki Minaj and the Young Money crew dominated the charts in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Back then, the only things that seemed to matter were homework (kind of), learning song lyrics, and keeping my iPod updated with music. 

Growing up listening to Nicki Minaj meant that I always had a song lyric that I could refer to off the dome. Lyrics for a confidence boost, a feisty comeback, or some downright encouraging lines. Nicki's discography offers it all, and that's why more than ten years later, she can re-release a mixtape, and it generates more buzz than you would have imagined. Being from Queens, I remember when my friend first told me about her. She told me to check out this girl from the South Side who raps; at first, I thought it was her cousin or something. However, after hearing Itty Bitty Piggy, I was hooked, and it has been history ever since then. Nicki was not lying when she said her bars are crack; just check the charts. As the movie Coming to America suggested, "queens really do come from Queens." 

-Lex Lavish