Love her or hate her you've got to admit that female rapper Nicki Minaj has got some balls when it comes to her image.
She will wear literally anything to get noticed. Or in many cases, she will wear as little as possible because she's got a big booty and she's not shy about showing it off. She's cartoon beautiful which means that she can wear increasingly vibrant shades of lipstick, eyeshadow and blusher and make them look fantastic. And wigs? Name a colour and Minaj has a wig, or several wigs, in every tone of the shade and in every length you can think of (although Cleopatra bobs are her favourite).
She's increasingly being recognised as a hot property by the edgy side of the cosmetics industry - check out our posts on Nicki Minaj for Mac Viva Glam and Nicki Minaj by OPI.
Minaj treats Awards shows as a platform, wielding her ice cream cones, wigs and (sorry no other word for it) wacky outfits as weapons.
Everything but the kitchen sink
Taking inspiration from the Rubber Bandits and their Centra masks at the VMAs?
Where them wigs at
Eee up cock. Everything about this outfit (inc wig) screams Bet Lynch. Yay!
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Can't touch this ... wig
She says her silly outfits and expressions are a reaction to the hypersexualisation of females in the music industry - but I honestly don't know about that. You only have to look at her bumping and grinding in her videos (check out the Super Bass lapdance below) to query that statement.
Still she has carved out a niche in an industry that is as much abut raunch as it is about rapping and in which women are usually treated like objects. Minaj doesn't seem to care if she looks ridiculous or not and that's a huge part of her charm. Jessie J is so obviously trying to copy her image, but to be honest she does it so badly it grates on my nerves (Jessie J is also copying Katy Perry too, but lets save that for another post).
Her Super Bass makeup has to be one of the most copied makeup looks - US You Tube gurus are literally falling over themselves to recreate this one and when you watch the video you'll see why.
She looks great in editorial shots for magazines too. I've selected two which I love - the magazines here have gone for skin and body makeup and because of Minaj's confidence and sense of style she pulls it off.
V magazine. Ok, maybe not one to wear to Tesco, but amazing
From her Vogue shoot. Love it. How many people could pull this off?
Minaj's new Album Pink Friday:Roman reloaded is due out next month so we're going to be hearing a lot more from her. And no doubt seeing a lot more of her too.
So what do you think? Love Minaj and her style - or does she turn you off?
