Evaluating Pills N Potions by Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj has dropped her lead single 'Pills N Potions' from her new album 'The Pink Print' and I am here to do a review about her song today.

I think it is gonna be a sleeper hit because:

1. It is not her style to create songs that are ballads.

2. Her raps are not as catchy

3. It sounds generic.

However, I am sure it would make an impact on the Hot 100, possibly on the Top 30 because:

1. She has a HUGE fanbase.

2. She is exploring her hip-hop and rapping roots, which will attract more people to listen to this song.

3. She is actually SINGING instead of rapping all the time.

Overall, I think that although her singing could do with some improvement, this song is kinda growing on me. This may be one of her personal tracks to date and I am cool with that :)

Song's Lyrics:   B+

Artist's Vocals: A-

Overall grade :  B+

View the official audio here:

Apology

I would like to sincerely apologise - I have gotten a lot of notes wrong on vocal ranges for singers. I have looked through all your comments - be it through comments or email or tweets, I would give all the singers another listen before reediting the singers' vocal ranges again.

If you would have noticed I took away a lot of posts down from my site too because the reviews are too biased and unprofessional, and I wish to start afresh with new posts and song reviews.

I apologise for the inconvenience caused.

Update: I have updated ALL of the singer's vocal ranges and will keep on adding new posts professionally from now on.

Evaluating Christina Aguilera

Lowest note: C3(forced A2)
Highest belt:  G#5
Highest note: C#7
Exclamation: D7
Vocal range: 4 octaves 1 semitone
Vocal grade: B

Vocal positives:
Her low notes are smooth and velvety down to a C3(See I got Trouble) and is reached with relative ease. Her mid-range is weighty and sturdy(F3-G5). Her notes are sung with a more open throat with allows them t be powerful and resonant. Her head voice is bright and piercing.

Vocal negatives:
Her voice has gone flat and cracked at D5 before, and criticisms have targeted at her technique because her belted notes at Eb5 sounds forced and coarse. Her whistle notes(C6-C#7) are rarely whistles, but are mostly just falsetto reached with unhealthy technique. She is not comfortable holding notes as high as E5 live. Her low notes at C3-E3 occasionally loses its clarity

Evaluating Pixie Lott

Lowest note: B2
Highest belt:  G5
Highest note: C6
Exclamation: N/A
Vocal grade:  B
Vocal range: 2 octaves 6 notes

Vocal positives:
Relatively well supported belts from C5 onwards. She possesses a nimble voice that can flip registers with ease. Her voice is raspy in most registers.

Vocal negatives:
Her chest voice sounds damaged and belts above C#5 sounds shrill because her voice is raspy.

Pixie Lott hitting a B2:

Evaluating Lea Michele

Lowest note: Eb3
Highest belt:  Bb5
Highest note: D6
Exclamation: N/A
Vocal range: 2 octaves 7 notes 1 semitone
Vocal grade: A*

Vocal positives
Her upper belts are her strongest feature(C5-Bb5), filled with resonance and can slice through the thickest of instrumentation without sounding force. Her diction has generated praise for being able to allow her to convey her emotions expertly. She has been seen holding a belt as high as A5 for extended periods of time without showing signs of fatigue.

Vocal negatives:
Notes above Eb5 sound shrill because she achieves them without using vibrato.

Evaluating Emily Osment

Lowest note: D3

Highest belt:  E5

Highest note: B5

Exclamation: C#6

Vocal grade: B

Vocal range: 2 octaves 5 notes

Vocal positives:

She is comfortable with doing low notes, reaching D3. Her belting is solid, reaching up to an E5.

Vocal negatives:

She gets tired easily and does not showcase her full range in live settings. She goes off-key very often even without moving and her chest voice gets weaker very quickly as it ascends from D5 live.

Evaluating Sara Bareilles

Lowest note: C3

Highest belt:  G5

Highest note: C6

Exclamation: N/A
Vocal range: 3 octaves

Vocal Grade: A

Vocal positives:

She belts out notes as high as Eb5 without wavering in pitch for an extended period of time. Her melismas are not overused and even though her strongest range, which is from F3 to Eb5, is where she finds home - her low notes at C#3 are used with good technique, and also pretty dark and well supported throughout the rest of her lower register. She possesses exceptional vibrato which allows her to go as high as G5 with little difficulty.

Vocal negatives:

There is nothing about her voice that makes me scream, 'Wow! I totally want to put her on the A* vocal grade' or something like that. Her voice is powerful and weighty, but everything else about her voice is either good or okay. Her voice above G5 becomes very uncontrolled, forced, and shrill at points, sometimes even nasal. Also, she has a somewhat unique timbre that is way too obvious to ignore.