Episode 58: Nicki Minaj with Enzo Escober

Am I a Nicki fan? This week I’m joined by my friend Enzo Escober for a proper nostalgia trip. We reminisce about the ways that Nicki’s unprecedented, cartoonish female aggression served as real catharsis during our hormonal teenage years, and why her mode of pure id is so endlessly appealing. We also discuss Nicki’s contributions to 2010s Plasticity, the “Black Gaga” comparison (incorrect), and how it feels to watch her kick, bite, and scream to avoid passing the torch.  Enzo Escober is a writer and critic from Manila. He has been published in Guernica, Slate, The Drift, and The Los Angeles Review of Books, among others. He is the co-host of Diva Discourse, a podcast about Beyoncé, and lives in Brooklyn.  Discussed:  “Nicki Minaj: Cheeky Genius,” profile in GQ (Taffy Brodesser-Akner, 2014) Nicki on Good Morning America (2011) “Broke people should never laugh” Queen Radio soundbyte “Prague” soundbyte Clip from MTV documentary Sophia Grace singing “Super Bass” on Ellen  Painting-like photo of Cardi B w/ shoeless foot Nicki on Trump in Rolling Stone: 1, 2 

Om Podcasten

STARGIRL is a mythology I created to make sense of things. It’s a show about girls who stand out, but it’s also a way to understand the world through patterns, both externally (by examining the type of women who reign over public life), and internally (by exploring how we deploy our own forces of projection). It’s a call to get into your body and follow your intuition—to explore your admiration and judgment of the Stargirls, and let that be a guiding light. Subscribe to the STARGIRL Patreon to unlock exclusive content: https://patreon.com/STARGIRLpod By @emmaglennbaker