The Night Is Still Young (Nicki Minaj song)

"The Night Is Still Young"
Single by Nicki Minaj
from the album The Pinkprint
Released April 12, 2015
Format Digital download
Genre Pop-rap
Length 3:48
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Nicki Minaj singles chronology
  • "The Night Is Still Young"
  • (2015)

"The Night Is Still Young" is a song by Trinidadian-born American recording artist Nicki Minaj, released as the sixth single from her third studio album The Pinkprint (2014), by Cash Money and Republic. It was written by Minaj, Ester Dean, Lukasz Gottwald, Donnie Lewis, Theron Thomas and Henry Walter, with additional production by Gottwald and Cirkut. The song is a disco-influence dance song that discusses the theme of partying and having fun.

"The Night is Still Young" received mixed reviews from music critics. Many critics viewed the single as single material and commended the production, but criticized the composition and lyrical content. Minaj confirmed that she has also filmed a video for the song.[1]

Background

Minaj released her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, in April 2012 and released a reissued version subtitled, The Re-Up, that November.[2][3] The latter was well received by critics, who noted it as a return to Minaj's hip-hop roots unlike Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, which explored pop and dance genres. During 2013, Minaj served as a judge during the twelfth season of American Idol, and ventured imto the retail industry with the launch of her fragrances, and the introduction of her clothing line.[4][5] The following year, Minaj ventured into acting in which she made her debut in the 2014 film The Other Woman.[6]

Minaj begun recording her third studio album in May 2013. Wanting to create "a continuation of The Re-Up with a lot more," Minaj wanted to focus on hip-hop and R&B sounds for the record.[7][8] During an MTV interview, she said that her third album would be "next level" and have "much to talk about": "I'm really excited and the people that have been working with me now, have been people that I haven't worked with before so it's like they're bringing a new sound to the album that I've never experimented with."[9] To promote the album, five singles were released from the album; "Pills n Potions", "Anaconda", "Only", "Bed of Lies" and "Truffle Butter". The songs charted moderately in several countries across the globe, while second single "Anaconda" became a huge success globally and the US.[10][11] The video set a 24-hour Vevo record, accumulating 19.6 million views on its first day of release, breaking the record previously held by Miley Cyrus for "Wrecking Ball".[12]

Composition

"The Night is Still Young" is written by Minaj, Ester Dean, Lukasz Gottwald, Donnie Lewis, Theron Thomas and Henry Walter, with additional production by Gottwald and Cirkut.[13] Lyrically, the song discusses the theme of partying and having fun; the verses involve around a routine night out at a club.[14] Stereogums writer Tom Briehan found the lyrics and Minaj's input as "bland" and "character-free,"[15]

Sonically, "The Night is Still Young" is a disco-influenced pop song that lasts three minutes and forty-eight seconds.[14] Writing for Consequence of Sound, Michael Madden felt the composition was "unadulterated pop."[16] Garvey compared the composition to Minaj's tracks on her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reload.[17] Tyler Kane from Paste Magazine commented "[The Night is Still Young”] sounded like a song hand-penned for Ke$ha, so it wasn’t a surprise to discover the person behind the track was her estranged collaborator Dr. Luke, reigning king of themes like “tonight is the last night we will exist in human form, so let’s party it away at the club.”[18] Nick Levine from Time Out labelled it "digital disco" music.[19] Niki McGloster from Billboard said it was the "lovechild" of Minaj's 2010 single "Moment 4 Life" and her 2012 single "Starships". Shee commented "Minaj packs this club record with verses about seizing the night and enjoying the ride."[20]

Release

Preparing for her world tour, Minaj's label Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records released the fifth single "Truffle Butter" from the parent album in January 2015.[21] Originally, Republic Records wanted to release "The Night is Still Young" as the next single but after agreement with Young Money and Cash Money, they scrapped it as the fifth single.[21]

Young Money and Cash Money intended to commission a music video for "Truffle Butter" to promote it, however, Republic refused because plans for "The Night is Still Young" had been set.[22] Despite heavy airplay in the US for the single, Republic decided to scrap plans of the music video and issue "The Night is Still Young" to pop radio because they felt the song would appeal more to a global audience.[22][22] The single was released in the UK on April 6 through contemporary radio.[1] It will officially be sent to contemporary radio in the U.S. on April 28, 2015.[23]

Critical reception

"The Night is Still Young" received mixed reviews from most music critics. Madden felt the songwriting was "plain" but commented "melodically, it does sound like the soundtrack to a massive evening, especially once that second vocal track kicks in during the chorus [...]"[16] The Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan favored the track, calling it "victory lap-pop."[24] Levine said that the song "proves Minaj still knows how to party."[19] However, Katherine St. Asaph from Time Magazine was heavily critical on Dr. Luke's production on both this and "Only". She commented "They’re not only unwelcome — they feel tired, as if they’d have been dated years ago. They’re necessary intrusions of commercialism that belie [Minaj’s] claim she “ain’t gotta rely on top 40” and undermine what’s presumably meant to be a classic."[25] McGloster favored the song as single-worthy by commenting "It's safe to say she'll be adding this to her vast collection of chart-topping hits."[20]

Despite calling it "catchy pop", Jon Caramanica from The New York Times felt the song was a "poor fit" to the album.[26] Garvey criticized the lyrical content for mentioning frequent uses of drugs.[17] Paste Magazine's Tyler Kane criticized the song's inclusion to the album, alongside album tracks "I Lied" and "Bed of Lies". He refereed the songs by saying "There’s a lot to wade through, though, and for every good moment, there’s another that should have ended on the cutting room floor."[18] Alex Macpherson from The Guardian commented "This perfunctory nod to that style is like revisiting the sites of your drunkenness through a hungover fug the following night in a doomed attempt to recapture the magic. No one’s heart is in this, [...]"[27] Breihan criticized the composition, feeling that Minaj " doesn’t always understand what she’s good at." He concluded "There’s subtext, sure, but the subtext doesn’t stop the song from being boring bottle-service music."[15]

Music video

During her interview with reporters from Capital FM, Minaj confirmed that she would appear in the single's accompanying music video.[28] The music video was shot in Downtown Los Angeles, California in March 2015. Pictures emerged with Minaj and dancer Caspar Smart, featuring Minaj in a black dress and walking down a street.[29]

A lyric video was published on Minaj's Vevo account, featuring visuals of drinking and colorful lights.[30] Madeline Roth from MTV praised the visuals of the lyric video, commenting "The clip gives the song a kaleidoscopic visual treatment that’s bursting with electric colors as Nicki assures us, “the night is still young and so are we.”[30] She also felt the song was "catchy."[30]

Live performances

Minaj has performed the song on her third world tour The Pinkprint Tour in 2015.[31] The song was in the segment of "dance bangers" alongside her collaboration single "Turn Me On" with French disc jockey David Guetta and her single "Starships". Levine, reporting the publication NME, commented "Ending with a succession of dance bangers including her David Guetta EDM hit 'Turn Me On', underrated 'The Pinkprint' cut 'The Night Is Still Young' and a gloriously raucous 'Starships', Nicki has 20,000 people raising their hands to the line "We're higher than a motherfucker", and this vast arena feels like a New York basement sweatbox."[31]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2015)
  • Peak
  • position
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[32] 46
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[33] 43
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[34] 93
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[35] 172
UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[36] 25
US Twitter Real-Time (Billboard)[37] 37

Release history

Region Date Format Label
United Kingdom[38] April 6, 2015 Contemporary hit radio
United States[23] April 28, 2015

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Nicki Minaj confirms new single UK release date". officialcharts.com.
  2. ↑ "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (Deluxe Edition)". Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  3. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded the Re-Up by Nicki Minaj". iTunes Store (US). Apple Inc. November 19, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Nicki Minaj Unveils 'Minajesty' Fragrance Ad".
  5. ↑ "Nicki Minaj Launches Clothing Line at Kmart".
  6. ↑ "Nicki Minaj To Make Movie Debut In New Cameron Diaz Comedy". Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  7. ↑ Ramirez, Erika (May 28, 2013). "Nicki Minaj Will 'Focus On Rap' For Upcoming Album". Billboardbiz: Articles. Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  8. ↑ Loren, Arielle (November 30, 2012). "Nicki Minaj Says Third Album Will Be an Extension of The Re-Up". BET. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  9. ↑ Markham, Rob (November 4, 2013). "Nicki Minaj 'Delving Into Deep Sh--' on 2014 Album". Viacom International Inc. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Nicki Minaj Previews Steamy 'Anaconda' Video, Unleashes Full Track". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Nicki Minaj Chart History". Billboard.
  12. ↑ "Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda' Video Breaks Vevo Record". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  13. ↑ "The Pinkprint" (Album liner notes). Nicki Minaj. Cash Money. Young Money Entertainment. 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lockett, Dee. "Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint: A Track-by-Track Breakdown". Slate. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Breihan, Tom (12 December 2014). "Premature Evaluation: Nicki Minaj The Pinkprint". Stereogum. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Madden, Michael (22 December 2014). "Nicki Minaj - The Pinkprint". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Garvey, Meaghan (16 December 2014). "Nicki Minaj: The Pink Print / Album Reviews". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Kane, Tyler (30 December 2014). "Nicki Minaj:: The Pinkprint:: Album Reviews". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Levine, Nick (17 December 2014). "Nicki Minaj 'The Pinkprint' Album review". Time Out. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 McGloster, Niki (15 December 2014). "Nicki Minaj, 'The Pinkprint': Track-by-Track Review". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Cantor, Brian. "'Truffle Butter' Now Set as Nicki Minaj's New Pop Single". Headline Planet (Cantortainment Company). Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Cantor, Brian. "Republic confirms "The Night is Still Young" as Nicki Minaj's next pop single.". Headline Planet (Cantortainment Company). Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 http://www.allaccess.com/top40-mainstream/future-releases
  24. ↑ Dolan, Jon (17 December 2014). "Nicki Minaj The Pinkprint Album review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  25. ↑ St. Asaph, Catherine (5 March 2015). "Review: Nicki Minaj Reinvents Herself on Personal The Pinkprint". Time Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  26. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (20 December 2014). "Nicki Minaj - The Pinkprint (review)". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  27. ↑ Macpherson, Alex (12 December 2014). "Nicki Minaj – The Pinkprint first-listen review: 'She has no idea what her strengths are'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  28. ↑ "NICKI MINAJ TO SHOOT VIDEO FOR "THE NIGHT IS..."". mypinkfriday.com. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  29. ↑ Heather Waugh, Nicola Agis, Fehintola Betiku (13 March 2015). "Look away now, J-Lo! Nicki Minaj and Casper Smart get close during music video shoot as he shows her some of his moves.". Daily Mail. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 Roth, Madeline (25 March 2015). "Nicki Minaj’s New Lyric Video Will Make You Want To EFFIN’ PARTY". MTV. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Levine, Nick (28 March 2015). "Nicki Minaj, The 02 Arena, London". NME. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  32. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 20151 into search. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  33. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 20153 into search. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  34. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Nicki Minaj – The Night Is Still Young". Singles Top 60. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  35. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2015-01-10" UK Singles Chart.
  36. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2015-01-04" UK R&B Chart. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  37. ↑ "Nicki Minaj - Chart History - Billboard Twitter Real Time Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-04-19.
  38. ↑ "BBC – Radio 1 – New Entries". BBC. Archived from the original on April 9, 2015.