Music Review: Nicki Minaj "The Night Is Still Young"

Nicki Minaj

The Night Is Still Young

Album: The Pinkprint

Year: 2015

             Nicki Minaj wants to get the most out of life in the straighforward “The Night Is Still Young.”

              Breezy synths open the single, setting a cool tone. She tells her friend she intends on getting fully drunk tonight. Then, she’ll pop some pills. She says he wanted to do something different tonight and she’s showing him. If he’s unsatsified with his life so far, it’s his own fault. However, there are times he’s going to wish he hadn’t done something. (“Yo, ayo tonight is the night that I'ma get twisted/Myx Moscato and vodka, I'ma mix it/Roll that spaceship, we about to get lifted/Live in the present and shit is for the gifted/This what you came, this what you came for/You get what you buy, this what you paid for/So make sure the stars is what you aim for/Make mistakes though.”)

                In the pre-chorus, she says she doesn’t let herself stress out. Everything that happens is a part of something bigger. In the meantime, she’s going to live. He says he should get going. She shakes her head no. It’s only 10 p.m. (“I never worry, life is a journey/I just wanna enjoy the ride/What is the hurry? It's pretty early/It's ok, we'll take our time.”)

                In the chorus, there is so much to do. They need to experience everything they can. (“The night is still young/The night is still young/The night is still young/And so are we/The night is still young (How dare we sit quietly)/The night is still young (And watch the world pass us by)/The night is still young (How dare we sit quietly)/And so are we.”)

                  She tells him they wouldn’t be able to leave anyway. She needs gas in her car. She offers to buy him the next drink. She says they can alternate. She gets excited when the server brings a champagne bottle to her. The server points to a guy and says it’s from him. She raises her glass to him and then says to her friend that the guy is cute enough for a one-night stand. Though, she’s going to try get some of her girlfriends hooked up, though. His friends are as attractive as him. She tells her friend that she’s going to be so sick tomorrow. But it will be worth it. (“Ayo, drinks on you, or the drinks is on me/We ain't going nowhere like tanks is on E/We still getting money, what bank it's gon' be?/If he sexy, he planking on me/So when them big boys want all of that (Ay!)/Tell the bartender, say my order back (Ay!)/It's bottle service, he ordered that (Ay!)/Might let him take it home and slaughter that/He got friends for all of my friends/They ain't leaving 'till we say when/And we gon' hangover the next day/But we will remember this day/So drop the pop and get low/Or we can drop the top and just cruise/We fresh to death, down to the shoes/My only motto in life is don't lose.”)

                 The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.
            

                  In the bridge, she tells him the fun is underway. The night has so many possibilities. (“We're just getting started, yeah, yeah/We're just getting started, yeah, yeah/Can't you see the night's still early/And we gon' get it wild and crazy/We're just getting started, yeah, yeah/We're just getting started, yeah, yeah/Can't you see the night's still early/And we gon' get it wild and crazy.”)

                      In the final section, she says she won’t let him have any regrets. (“How dare we sit quietly/And watch the world pass us by/How dare we sit quietly/And watch the world pass us by.”)

                        Minaj doesn’t have a routine. Neither had ever been the bar before. She wants to meet who ever she can. She’s lived spontaneously for a long time. However, after some bad decisioins, she’s learned to be careful. However, it’s such a treat to hear her sing towards the end. It’s something she does often and certianly far more preferable than her vocal tics.

                    The lasting  “The Night Is Still Young” is worth staying up late up for.