Take a breather Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj released her debut album Pink Friday in 2010. Then in 2012 Minaj released her amazing Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. Just a little under a year and a half later. Both albums were instant classics and Minaj became a household name. She ever earned a place as an American Idol judge.
In November, seven months after her second album came out, Minaj released a rerelease of that album called The Re-Up. While Roman Reloaded was amazing, only one of the eight songs on the EP come close to that level of amazing. Songs like "I Endorse These Strippers" which features Tyga and Brinx and "Up in Flames." are fun, but they don't hold a candle to half the songs on the original release of the album.
"I'm Legit" featuring Ciara and "Freedom" are both great songs. But songs like "High School" featuring Lil' Wayne and "Hell Yeah" featuring Parker are okay, they're not "Starships," Marilyn Monroe" or "Roman Holiday."
The best song on the album is "The Boys" which features washed up singer Cassie. The song is based off of a Cassie demo called "Money on Love." The song mixes rap, R&B, electropop and folk rock into a crazy song that is just as good and out there as anything Minaj has ever done.
The eighth song is the single "Va Va Voom," which was already featured on the deluxe version of the original album. The inclusion of that song feels like robbery.
With Minaj planning to release her third album in May of 2013, tentatively titled Pink Friday: The Pinkprint, Minaj is showing no signs of slowing down. While the album will probably be amazing, I for one am kind of getting tired of Nicki Minaj.

Neon Hitch shines on new single

Neon Hitch is one of the next generation of quirky pop stars who blend dance, pop, hip hop and rock into one weird blend of pop music. Her single "Bad Dog" was arguably the most overlooked song of 2011. Hitch has been featured on "Follow Me Down" by 3OH!3 and the mega hit "Ass Back Home" by Gym Class heroes. She also wrote "Blah Blah Blah" with Ke$ha and songs for Friday Night Boys and Sky Ferreira.
Hitch plans to release her debut album Beg, Borrow and Steal this year and this past week she released her new single "Gold" which features Tyga. "Gold" is a dance-pop number that is so upbeat and catchy that it'll be stuck in heads for days. The song, co-written by Bruno Mars, is about how her lover "shines like gold" and while the lyrics are cheesy, it's cute. She seems truly enamoured with her lover and with her beautiful, distinctive voice the listener can truly tell that she means every word she says.
The only drawback of the song is the rap by Tyga. It just doesn't seem to go with the rest of the song. If she released this song with somebody more well known then maybe the rap would be helpful but Tyga is no Kanye West or Nicki Minaj so his verse could just be erased.
The song is proof that Hitch has what it takes to make a hit and if she makes more songs like this than she's sure to get huge.