With her quirky sexual presentation and penchant for making odd faces, Nicki Minaj is one of the most visually distinctive rappers to come along in years. It figures, then, that discussion of her debut single, “Massive Attack,” would take a back seat to its Hype Williams-directed, B-movie-inspired video. Considering the hype Minaj has generated through mixtapes, cameos and her co-starring role in Lil Wayne‘s Young Money project, “Massive Attack” is a fairly anticlimactic coming-out song. Sure, her sassy one-liners are as entertaining as always. But Sean Garrett and Alex Da Kid’s chaotic beat-which evokes latter-day Timbaland with its bouncy, screechy Euro-club synths and jumpy drums-doesn’t suit her mental-patient delivery nearly as well as, say, Kane Beatz’ simpler track for Young Money’s “Bedrock.”
