Photos and review: Nicki Minaj at Verizon Theatre (July 29)

by Steve Lee of QuickSilver Interactive Group, Brenna Rushing

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Minaj discarded her dramatic costumes and makeup to show a softer side to the Grand Prairie crowd.

GRAND PRAIRIE — Fans wearing colored tutus, stilettos, and eccentric makeup flooded the Verizon Theatre for the Nicki Minaj show on Sunday night. Women and girls of all ages strutted Minaj’s trademark styles in honor of the female rapper. Minaj is in the middle of her first headlining tour, titled Pink Friday, which is named after both of her albums.

GOOD Music’s 2 Chainz opened the show with his signature Southern hip-hop style. The Georgia rapper recently signed to Kanye West’s record label, and also recently released a single featuring the superstar rapper (“Birthday Song”). Riding in and out on a Segway with his signature gold chains and dreadlocks, 2 Chainz performed his well-known tracks including “Duffle Bag Boy” and a remix of Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” to a roaring audience who was very familiar with his tracks.

Minaj's show was destined to mirror the eccentric costumes her fans proudly wore to the show, especially since this is her first big tour. She stepped out to “Roman’s Revenge” in a black robe atop her Barbie dream house staircase. As soon as the robe dropped, it was clear we wouldn’t be seeing her eye-popping outfits this evening. Minaj focused more on the music than her usual shocking, colorful looks, blazing through hit after hit with effortless swagger.

It’s easy to forget just how many songs she’s been featured on. The list is seemingly endless, giving her more than enough material to fill a major nationwide tour such as this. “Beez in the Trap,” “Moment 4 Life,” and “Your Love” showed her as a badass rapper and as a softer, pop princess all in one block. Four costume changes hinted at the Trinidad rapper’s flair for the dramatic, with everything from a black and pink zebra-striped unitard underneath cutoff shorts to a white, see-through tutu.

Her white, beaming smile and poised expression made the famously independent female rapper look like she’s been doing this for years. Whether inflecting her notable quirky personas in flagrant numbers or singing her heart out in pop ballads, Minaj proved there’s a lot more behind the crazy makeup or off-the-wall outfits -- even if that’s exactly what was missing in this performance. Her message of female independence rang out loud and clear to the hundreds of girls in the crowd, and it's this personality that's set her apart from other female rappers of today and proves she isn’t giving it up anytime soon.

A shower of confetti accompanied "Starships" "Super Bass," Minaj’s biggest hit, at the close of the show, ending the night without an encore. Considering how fast she moved through her set list and the rather basic stage setup, this grandiose ending was a satisfying, yet abrupt way to close out the night.

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