Nicki Minaj seem to be finding more inspiration from Jamaican music as she posted some lyrics after putting the date of her album Pink Friday 2 in a previous post on Wednesday on her Instagram story.
The Pink Friday rapper wrote: “me have two fowl a me yaaaaard, a cokk & a hen.”
Those are lyrics from 90s dancehall DJ Silver Cat’s 1994 hit “Fowl Affair” produced by Patrick Roberts on the Corduroy Riddim.
https://youtu.be/o_sM9xIU-sE?si=kdRlKzeor2m7XkGj
The song’s lyrics is a play on words by the humorous and witty lyricist. Influenced vocally by Buju Banton and Mega Banton, Silver Cat’s career took a significant leap in 1995 when he collaborated with Beenie Man on the widely successful ‘Chronic,’ their second international hit.
Throughout the 90s, Silver Cat remained in the limelight, consistently delivering hits such as ‘All These Girls Are Mine,’ ‘Violence And Crime,’ ‘Nah Go Bow,’ ‘Lose Him Gal,’ ‘Get Too Bright,’ and ‘Use Your Imagination’ – a powerful collaboration with Cocoa Tea, Thriller U, and Cutty Ranks. His versatile and engaging musical style continued to captivate audiences, solidifying his status as a prominent figure in the reggae scene.
Minaj’s last dancehall sojourn was with trap dancehall artist Skeng for the Likkle Miss Remix and the Likkle Miss Fine Nine Remix.
The Queen of Hip Hop announced that she would be taking a trip to Jamaica last year for Carnival in an online engagement with DJ Foota Hype where he said: “happy to see you back in full effect queen, I am reviewing ur new song tomorrow a chubble lol.” to which she answered, “need you to go Crazy when you playing it. We need a next Trini Carnival. Im going to Jamaica Carnival.”
She recorded the song “Shake the Place” with Machel Montana and Destra which is peaked at No. 6 on the U.S. reggae iTunes chart last year.
Much of last year Nicki shared videos of her and dancehall star Skeng.
While in Trinidad for Carnival last year, she posted a video with the caption: “S/o to @skeng.don for reppin us. 2nd video by @grizzleearts 📸 Last video shot by @emanuelambi#ShakeThePlace @machelmontano @destragarcia & me. Sweet sweet T& T 🇹🇹.”
Nicki Minaj was born in Port of Spain Trinidad in 1982 and grew up with 11 cousins. She got her green card at age 24 and left the twin Island republic for the Bronx New York where she pursued a music career.
During her acceptance speech at the MTV VMAs as she received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard, Nicki thanked a slew of people who ‘inspired her flow’ and ‘gave her huge opportunities.” Among them she thanked “Beenie Man and all of Jamaica.” After which she said “I have to thank Drizzy for always saying the things I need to hear to get me back in the game.”
Drake has always stayed close to Jamaican culture and the artists from the island have embraced him since the beginning of his career. One of the Toronto artist’s first song Find Your Love was filmed on location in Jamaica and featured Mavado in the music video. For the intro, Drake got advice from a Rasta man about leaving a girl alone and focusing on his music and his album. He has since used the dancehall culture and artist to fuel his singles and albums. Dancehall deejay Popcaan has also been signed to his OVO label since 2018.
Nicki Minaj herself has done a few dancehall collabs, most notably with Gyptian, Mavado, Beenie Man and joined Skillibeng more recently for the Crocodile Teeth Remix which peaked at #100 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
The last time the Young Money Queen was in Jamaica, she headlined Reggae Sumfest in 2011. She was approached by Jamaican police soon after she left the stage and told she had violated the Towns and Communities Act, which is a British colonial law that fines persons for “obscenity in a public place”. She was issued a court summons for 28 July.
Minaj however left the island and never appeared. Instead, a local lawyer attended court and entered a guilty plea on her behalf. The singer was ordered to pay a fine of 1,000 Jamaican dollars. On Twitter, Minaj joked about the incident: “I swear I just had the time of my life,” she wrote.
In 2019, she compared the situation to Saudi Arabia women’s rights laws saying, “I could make one mistake and got to jail in a different country where women have no rights.”
