Nicki Minaj's Newest Fragrance: Minajesty

As you know, it's not enough to merely be a diva these days. You must be an industry with an industrial-strength scent all your own. Enter Nicki Minaj with her second perfume, Minajesty.

My God! Ads are plastered all over the subways for this item. Today, on my commute, I was in a Minajesty-themed car, I realized, gazing up upon the arch glamour ads just above the faces of weary, working-class riders And I thought: what a wonderfully effective campaign!

Nicki looks beautiful and very glam in the ads, though, I must admit -- kinda like the poor man's RuPaul. But the bottle design is downright scary. Looks like Grace Jones on a bender with a gold-plated face! The kiss of death from Mr Goldfinger.

The ad campaign is sheer camp, queens take note. She is talkin' to you, girlfriends! Ok? "Believe in your Queendom" -- does that appeal to you bitches? "You can be the king but watch the queen conquer" -- all right then! This may be the first major fragrance pitched toward trannies. And it's available at Macy's.

"All hail her Minajesty," reads another ad blurb. Per its official press release, the odor is described thusly: “sultry floral gourmand,” with “luscious fruits and luxurious fresh florals, draped in creamy vanilla and pure musks.” Gee! What do gourmands smell like? Can anyone tell me? Well, I just had to find out. Dropped by Macy's Herald Square (what a zoo) to get a whiff of the musk as I thought it a must! Elbowed my way to a sample bottle to spray on my wrist. E.U.! Smelled like rotting grapefruit! If citrus mulch is your thing, I recommend this scent to you.

The press release also informs us that the bottle makes a “bold and confident statement” with its “outrageous presence and vivacious allure.” In other words, huge freaking pink box, tiny bottle.

If there are any grapefruit queens out there, this is certainly the scent you want. Otherwise, my verdict is pee-yew. Get my drift?

Buddy's Biased Billboard, Briefly, & International Call-Out

Nicki Minaj's "Pound the Alarm" pounds its way to #1 this week on the Billboard Dance/Club top 25, coinciding with the ever-charming Minaj threatening to pound the shit out of Mariah Carey, her American Idol co-star. But, beware, Nicki, Ms Carey is just two spots down, with "Triumphant," ascendant at #3, to trounce you from that perch and triumphantly usurp it for herself.

Betwix you two gals, however, is Pink, now #2 with "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)."  Kristine W up, at lucky number 13, with the Moto Blanco-produced "Everything That I Got," a real floor-filler. And Pet Shop Boys are champs, now at the 16th niche with "Winner."

Scissor Sisters have Kiki'd down, just below the top 10 but holding strong at #11. And Gossip's "Move in the Right Direction" is certainly doing that, now up at #17. Beyonce again enters the top 25 with "I Was Here," while Rebecca Ferguson's at #24 with "Nothing's Real But Love," which peaked at 11th place.

What a bummer watching the obnoxious Mitt Romney steamroll over moderator Jim Lehrer last night to President Obama's detriment during their first debate. Just got to drown myself in a double dose of disco today to get beyond that! Meanwhile, want to thank everyone reading my blog, with special thanks this week -- beyond my perennial views from the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Mexico and Brazil -- to readers in the Palestinian Territories, Kuwait, Pakistan, Japan, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine, Latvia, Japan and Venezuela. Peace, love, happiness and dance music to all!

Below, the Seamus Haji remix of the new Gossip number:

Diva Duel: Minaj vs. Mariah

"'American Idol' in Chaos!" screams the Daily News' front-page headline. "DIVAS AT WAR!"

Well, it's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out. Will people tune in to see if all hell will break loose? According to New York's Daily News:

Nicki Minaj unleashes foul-mouthed tirade at Mariah Carey and threatens to punch her out during taping of 'American Idol'

 

The festering bad blood between the two divas — both serving as judges for the first time this season on the Fox show — boiled over in Charlotte, N.C., when they disagreed over a contestant’s performance, sources said.

Production of “American Idol” came to a halt Tuesday when seething singer Nicki Minaj unleashed a foul-mouthed tirade at Mariah Carey and threatened to punch her out. The festering bad blood between the two divas — both serving as judges for the first time this season on the Fox show — boiled over in Charlotte, N.C., when they disagreed over a contestant’s performance, sources said.

Carey had been goading Minaj for hours, sources said, ultimately calling the wild-haired, wig-loving “Your Love” singer a “bitch.”

A fuming Minaj later threatened, “I’m gonna knock you out!” .... TMZ posted a video of the incident Tuesday night, presumably taken moments after the pair exchanged barbs. Minaj can be heard ranting, “Get this s---t in self-control. Get in control. Get in control,” as fellow judge Randy Jackson urges her to “settle down.”

The blowup has “Idol” brass worried that the bad chemistry between the two judges will ruin the show — which faces stiff competition from upstarts like NBC’s “The Voice” and Fox’s “The X Factor,” featuring their own lineups of pop superstars as judges.

“It’s a major concern now,” an “Idol” source told the Daily News. “They obviously don’t like each other, but they have signed contracts and need to learn how to at least tolerate each other.”

Fox officials declined to comment....

“There’s been a feud in two days?” Carey said cryptically at a hastily arranged news conference when asked about a rumored confrontation between the pair the very first day of taping in New York City. “A feud takes a little longer,” she added.

Divas, Queens & Billboard

There are a select few popular, contemporary artists on the dance-music scene whom I abhor; Nicki Minaj first and foremost. I just don't get her! I watched Ms Minaj, from L.A., on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and the bitch was not rockin' me at all! So, the very fact that she is sitting atop the Billboard Dance chart, at #1, with the cacophonic, David Guetta-produced "Turn Me On," turns me off. However, I do not believe there is any shortage of talent in the current disco-diva pool. Indeed, I think we are going through a disco renaissance in terms of proficiency and flair, be it in terms of divahood, production quality or remixer inventiveness and excitement!

Michael Musto commented this week, in The Village Voice (very accurately, I thought), regarding the theater: "We're in the middle of a musical-diva golden age thanks to Patti, Bernadette, Donna, Audra, Sutton, Jan, Kelli, Kristin, and Alice, but you still hear theater queens murmuring, 'There are no stars like the old days!'" Well, the same goes for dance music. Disco dinosaurs grumble but they don't go to clubs any more or immerse themselves in the current dance-music scene. I feel this is more of a misinformed attitude or belief that has no foundation in reality. A lot of the disco, hiNRG and house music stars of the 70s, 80s and 90s are still around. And many new artists do the dance floor proud. Go out and see what I mean. (Just try to choose a good dj.)

Gladys Knight is a divine and (dare I add?) much loved, vocalist who's not necessarily associated with disco, though she has, with the Pips, dabbled in the genre. This week, remixes of "I Who Have Nothing" came across my desk and, babies, Gladys blew my mind (on a midnight train to Bay Ridge)! I think this will get ample dance-floor play, especially via the mixes by Redtop and Tony Moran. Hot stuff coming through! And I understand you can download these mixes via iTunes.

Apparently, the rumors are true! Rolling Stone confirmed, just a few hours ago, after Britain's The Daily Star leaked it:

Adam Lambert is reportedly the new singer for Queen, replacing the American Idol winner's own late idol, Freddie Mercury. Lambert broke the news to the U.K.'s Daily Star.

"The intention is to pay tribute to Freddie and the band by singing some fucking great songs," he said. "It's to keep the music alive for the fans and give it an energy that Freddie would've been proud of." Queen previously toured with former Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers taking Mercury's place.

Speculation has been high since Lambert was joined by surviving Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor during his Idol finals appearance in 2009. In November, they performed together at the MTV EMAs in Belfast.

Lambert said he had no intention of replacing Mercury, who died in 1991. "That's impossible," he said. "The way I'm choosing to view it is that it's a great honor and one I'm in no way going to shirk." Lambert's second solo album, Trespassing, is due in March.

A representative for Hollywood Records tells Rolling Stone, "The Daily Star item only mentions that Adam may perform with Queen at Sonisphere. This is not confirmed. Nothing has been signed. However, if this were to happen, Queen would be returning to the setting of their final concert with Freddie Mercury, which took place in 1986."

Sounds promising! (Any thoughts on Lambert filling Mercury's platform boots? Feel free to comment here on this post.) At least, when it comes to Queen, we've got one dynamic queen substituting for another. And Lambert can hit all of Freddie's notes.

Now, to briefly run down what interests me on the latest Billboard dance chart:

"Shake It Out" by Florence + the Machine dropped from #4 to 8, so I think its chance to get to the #1 spot is unlikely. But it shook its way to 4 and that's shaking me up, too. "Drifting," by Plumb, drifts ever upward with its trancey mixes to the 10th spot, while Gaga's "Marry the Night" currently nestles at #9 in its gradual descent from #1.

The delicious "Waiting on You" (Ultra Nate & Michelle Williams) up to 11 from 12. (Love to see this groove make its way into the top ten by next week.) "If It Wasn't for Love," by diva deluxe Deborah Cox, hits the twelfth spot this week, descending from a lofty #1 as well.

Erasure's "Be with You" nicely risen from #17 to #14 this week, and Kelly Clarkson taking "Stronger" to the following 15th spot, upwardly mobile.

For the full top-25 Dance/Club chart on Billboard, please go to billboard.com.

Peace, love, happiness & disco to everyone all over the world!