At the end of last year, it looked worryingly like Nicki Minaj might get eaten by her own ass.
Her 2014 single “Anaconda” was a chart smash and burned up hip-hop clubs the world over, but its big-butt theme overshadowed the subtleties of her excellent third album, “The Pinkprint,” to the point where she was perilously close to becoming a pop novelty.
But on Sunday night at Barclays Center, Minaj bit back. Her show made a point of reining in the bawdy strip-club act, and baring her soul.
It was a tone she set from the opening few minutes, kicking off the set with the introspective album ballads “I Lied” and “The Crying Game,” the latter of which focuses on the painful, drug-addled decay of a relationship.
“I was going through the craziest s–t during that album,” she explained later in the show. “I thought I was about to die.”
It was a brave opening move, but Minaj isn’t packing the usual bells and whistles that usually come with a large-scale show.
Keeping an arena crowd entertained can involve the use of anything from flashy lights to full-sized llamas.
But the Queens emcee took the harder route, relying on just a modest production and a small troupe of dancers. Song segues were often rough, even downright sloppy, but Minaj wielded her gargantuan charisma through an array of winks, nods, smiles and scowls. They dominated the room better than a slick, syncopated pyro display ever could.
The emotional nakedness of the night was further underlined by her choice of guests. As has been the case on previous dates on the “Pinkprint” tour, Minaj’s fiancé and opener, Meek Mill, duetted on the Philadelphia rapper’s track “Bad for You.” Neither was playing coy about their feelings for the other, and the two locked lips, to the delight of the crowd.
Minaj also opened up the stage to friend, inspiration and mentor Lil’ Wayne, who discovered her in 2009 and signed her to his Young Money label.
After running through fierce versions of “6 Foot 7 Foot” and recent track “Glory,” Weezy took the love offered from Minaj and cooked up some of his own. “I saw this before she even thought it was possible,” he said, looking out at the crowd. “So make some noise for my vision.”
It might have been Wayne’s vision once upon a time, but in making her stage performance an extension of her personal life, Nicki Minaj has become a compelling monster of her own making.