Nicki Minaj has announced the follow-up to her blockbuster debut album, and she is letting her gay male alter ego take the lead. Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – despite its title, a new collection of songs – will be released on Valentine's Day 2012.
"Heeeee's baaaacccckkkkk," Minaj hollered on Twitter. The news comes about a year after the release of Pink Friday, which catapulted Minaj from mixtape wunderkind to worldwide star: she has already featured on five UK top 20 singles, and her debut has gone gold in the UK and platinum in the US. For her second album, Minaj is clearly aiming to capitalise on that success, borrowing Pink Friday's title but promising "ALL new tracks". It's a strategy that worked for Lady Gaga's Fame Monster.
The titular Roman was introduced on Pink Friday's second track, Roman's Revenge. Just one of many Minaj characters, Roman Zolanski is a violent, motorbike-riding "gay boy". "He's mean, he's angry and he's vicious," she told Cleo magazine. Although Minaj refuses to comment on her sexual orientation, she is a vocal supporter of LGBT rights.
Minaj first hinted at her new album in a blogpost earlier this month, which was later removed. "[Roman] has 2 more weeks in boarding school," she wrote. "When he lands, he will address the nation in the form of music … Roman will be in rare form this time. You know why? Cuz he no longer gives a fuck. He realised that his core matters the most. Everyone else will figure it the fuck out. He can no longer be censored."
