Nicki Minaj Collaborates with Major Lazer "Oh My Gawd"

Photo by Gregg DeGuire / Getty Images file

         Let's travel back to 2010. I just dropped out of college and only listened to classical music (I also listened to every indie band that started with “The” as well). After leaving college, I reconnected with one of my old friends and he started playing (really educate) me on current hip hop and R&B. I had no clue who Drake, 2 Chainz, and Rick Ross were.  I remembered Lil Wayne and asked if he was still making music (or alive). He was shocked. He then starts telling how huge these artists were, and then I was shocked After hearing this I made a decision to try to listen to music in each genre, because being a music major in college seemed to actually limit my music choices.

        After diving into current pop and hip hop culture I was all in. I loved pretty much every song on the radio, and every Hip Hop song by the label Young Money. I was told a female rapper on their label, Nicki Minaj made pop tunes so that piqued my interest. After hearing “Check It Out” featuring Will. I. Am. I became a HUGE closed Nicki Minaj fan. I loved her word play, and how she sang on her records instead of just rapping. Now that was 2010. Ever since then I've loved everything she put out, so I was excited to hear about "Oh My Gawd" (a new collaboration with production trio Major Lazer).

Source: Mad Decent

         Let me just say I was really impressed by "Oh My Gawd". Major Lazer often has “island vibes” in their production style, so having someone from Trinidad & Tobago was perfect for this song. This song really brought out Nicki Minaj's heritage. Her island accent is heard heavy on her verse. Despite this you can still hear her bouncy classical “barbie” style. Half of her verse is rapped, and the other verse is sung. Having the popular reggaton vibe in the drum patterns, and accompanied by Mr Eazi's vocals make this song an instant hit. Even though this is a Major Lazer song Nicki Minaj makes it her own. I even heard about it because it was trending on twitter (Major Lazer was barely mentioned). Being a big Nicki Minaj fan I loved hearing her tap into her heritage. I'd love to hear more songs in this style from her in the future.

You can listen to "Oh My Gawd" here: