Roman Zolanski (pronounced roh-mun zo-lan-skee or zo-lan-sky) is one of Nicki Minaj's alter egos; he is Minaj's most well-known and utilized alter ego, as well as her self-professed favorite.[1] Zolanski is described as a homosexual male from London, England, characterized as being far more outspoken (and perhaps malicious) than Minaj herself. His first appearance in a song was in "My Chick Bad", a song by Ludacris. Roman was declared dead by Minaj herself on February 14, 2014.[2] However, five months later, Nicki held a Q&A on twitter and said that she will rap as Roman again when a fan asked her. Since then, Roman has made small appearances. A full return of Roman is expected to happen one day, but so far there are no indications of when.
Development and personality
The first reference to Roman was a passing mention on Twitter—Minaj simply stated that she had "officially changed her name" and that she would only respond to Roman Zolanski.[3] Two months later, Minaj announced that Roman was her "twin sister."[4] Minaj gave little information on Zolanski outright, but Zolanski was described as crazy and was conspicuously female.[5] Roman Zolanski was not so much a character at the time as he was a dark personality and force of will, a particularly one-dimensional ego who was "crazy" and nothing else. In his first two musical appearances, "Bottoms Up" and "Monster", Zolanski was certainly explicit and uninhibited, but little more was known of the character.
Months later in the documentary My Time Now, Minaj elaborated that Roman is a crazy boy who lives inside her, who says the things that she doesn't want to say. He threatens to beat people and he's violent.[6] Nicki also said in the documentary that she "asks him to leave, but he can't. He's here for a reason. People have brought him out. People have conjured him up now he won't leave."[6] His personality is also very arrogant[7] and insensitive to others.[8] Zolanski's switch from female to male appears to purely be a retcon—that is, Roman is now considered to have always been male, even though in his early stages he was called female.
The character Martha Zolanski, Roman's mother, was created as a type of foil for Roman, first appearing in "Roman's Revenge". Martha, an older woman with a great respect for tradition, manners, and "the rules" further highlights the outlandish and audacious behavior of Roman. The relationship between the two is clearly strained—Martha treats Roman as a child in "Roman's Revenge" and believes he needs to be exorcised of demons in "Roman Holiday", based solely on the fact that he does not look or act like an average person—his unruly behavior and homosexuality are in direct conflict with Martha's beliefs. Martha also forces him to take his medicine to "wind down".[9] Roman disagrees with his mother's strict adherence to societal norms and Minaj has since made clear that, despite his mother's desire force him into conformity, "he’s never gonna change, he’s never gonna be exorcised. Even when they throw the holy water on him, he still rises above."[10] Though he and his mother constantly fight, Minaj has made clear that Roman will always love his mother.[11] The conflicting nature of the two egos has developed Roman as Minaj's most complex alter ego, having a much more detailed backstory than any other. With the very ambivalent relationship between the two, it is unclear to what degree Roman is actually evil and to what degree he is simply misunderstood.
Unlike in his first appearances, Roman's personality on later tracks such as "Where Them Girls At",[12] "Dance (A$$) (Remix)",[13] "Stupid Hoe", "Give Me All Your Luvin'", "Starships", "Turn Me On" and "Pound The Alarm" were significantly less violent and more carefree and fun-loving. This has given an overall view of Roman as a rebellious and comical character that is not necessarily maleficent. These songs show the happier side of Roman and that he is not always as violent and angry as he was earlier portrayed, since Minaj stated that Roman does not care anymore.[13]
Roman is typically portrayed as blond and wears mostly dark clothing. An exception to this was in the "Monster" music video when he had black hair, although Minaj said that he is likes to experiment with pink and green wigs and wear lipstick. Roman has been compared to Eminem's alter ego, Slim Shady.
Abandonment and return
After Minaj released Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded - The Re-Up, fans and critics alike noticed the absence of Roman. Over the course of 2013, there was no mention of Roman, neither a song where people could feel Roman was there. On February 14, 2014, Nicki declared that she "got tired of him" so he "died"[2], and she did not mention anything else.
After a long time without mentioning or acting like Roman, during the 2015 VMAs, after taking the stage to receive the award for "Best Hip-Hop Video" for "Anaconda", Minaj said a few words to her fans with the same gestures used. by her alter ego Roman, and soon after attacked Miley Cyrus: "And now, come back with this bitch who had a lot to say about me these days to the press. What's up, Miley?", shouted Nicki, live, referring to to the interview given by Miley to the newspaper "The New York Times", where she commented on the singer's indignation at not being nominated in the "Best Video of the Year" category, alleging racism.
In September 2017, in an interview with Dazed Magazine, when talking about her then-upcoming studio album, Nicki said that she is starting to consider the option of bringing Roman back, because a lot of people have been asking about him: "Everyone has been asking me about Roman, will Roman come back? If Roman is needed, then Roman will be there. I'm not going to do anything that feels forced. I'm doing this for my core fans” said Nicki.
In July 2019, Roman appeared in the final verses of Chance The Rapper's Zanies and Fools, In the Twitter post promoting Chance's new album Nicki confirmed this by saying:" [...] y'all asked me to bring back Roman. He's bakk".
In the unreleased snippet of "Woo" by Pop Smoke, there is a line in the intro spoken by Nicki Minaj: "Romans back, bitch"[1]. It was speculated "Woo" will be released on July 16th, 2021 with this intro featuring Roman but never happened.
In August 2022, the song "Super Freaky Girl" was announced by Minaj to have a Roman Remix, It released on August 18, 2022.
December 8, 2023, Roman Zolanski has officially returned to the spotlight after Minaj releases her 5th studio album Pink Friday 2.
Story
In the "Moment 4 Life" music video, Martha tells Minaj that Roman has been sent away to a Russian boarding school with Slim Shady (Eminems's alter ego), apparently as punishment the events of "Roman's Revenge" and to rehabilitate him.[14] In late 2011, Minaj announced that she was going to pick him up from the school in two weeks.[13]
Since being released from Moscow, Martha attempted to have Roman exorcised, as played out during her performance at the 2012 Grammy Awards. Though Roman did appear to have some sort of supernatural power, it is unclear whether or not he was actually possessed. It is unknown if the exorcism was a failure, as Roman broke free from his restraints, but was later raised into the air by the priest. At the close of the performance, Zolanski asks his mother for forgiveness. The next chapter of Roman's story is yet to be told.
Roman was also a warrior which fought and defeated an evil force known as "Nemesis," as narrated in "The Legend of Roman" which tell the prophesied story of a warrior who traveled from the world known as "Pinkslam," which is in complete devastation, to planet Earth to fight Nemesis.[15]
It is speculated that part of Roman's journey in Pinkslam is depicted in the opening visuals of The Nicki Wrld Tour (2019). It is also rumored that his fight with Nemesis is displayed in the Fly visual for Nicki, in a blonde mohawk, fights some people in black. During that, she holds an angry expression at some times, indicating Roman's presence might be existent in the visual.
Appearances
Roman appears mostly on songs where at least an adequate amount of anger is displayed, or where heavy lyrics are used. He can also be displayed by a numerous amount of voice cracks or a deep masculine voice, sometimes a childish voice. He is famously known for his appearance on "Roman's Revenge", introducing himself to Minaj's fans.
Pink Friday
- "Roman's Revenge" (with Barbie)
- "Did It On'em"
- "Check It Out" (with Barbie)
- "Moment 4 Life" (music video) (mentioned)
- "Blazin" (with Onika)
- "Wave Ya Hand"[16]
- "Last Chance" (with Onika) (parts of the verses)
- "Super Bass" (with Barbie) (parts of the verses)
- "BedRock" (with Barbie) ("Be on my low starch")
Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
- "Roman Holiday" (with Martha Zolanski)
- "Come on a Cone"
- "I Am Your Leader"[17]
- "Beez in the Trap"[17] (with Barbie)
- "Roman Reloaded"
- "Pound the Alarm"[18] (the first verse)
- "Stupid Hoe" (with Barbie and Female Weezy)
- "Masquerade" (the last verse)
- "Turn Me On" (the first five eighths of the last verse)
- "Starships" (with Mermie) (the first verse)
- "Whip It" (with Barbie) (first and second verse)
Queen
- "Barbie Dreams" ( with Chun-Li and Barbie) (the last verse)
Pink Friday 2
- "FTCU" (with Red Ruby and Barbie) ("Spotify ain't gotta lie, they really streamin' my music")
- "Cowgirl" (with Barbie) ("Copycats crunchy like a apple")
- "Everybody" (with Nicki) ("shoot, neutralize, fire")
- "Big Difference" (with Barbie and Queen Sleeze) (the first verse)
- "Press Play"
- Pink Friday 2 photoshoot (The barb wired in the pink dessert)
Other
- "Hello Good Morning (Remix)"
- "Born To Be Wild" (along with his mother, Martha)
- "Fly" (music video)
- "Bottoms Up"[19] (along with Harajuku Barbie)
- "Dem Boys"[20]
- "Good Luck"
- "Murda"
- "Flawless (Remix)" (towards the end of verse)
- "Give Me All Your Luvin'"[21]
- "Monster"[22] (along with Harajuku Barbie)
- "Out of My Mind" (along with Dr. Minaj and Harajuku Barbie)
- "Roman in Moscow"
- "Right By My Side" (music video)
- "The Boys" (along with Harajuku Barbie)
- "Hands Up" (with Nicki)
- "Low"
- "Where Them Girls At"[12](along with Tyrone)
- "Zanies and Fools"
- "My Chick Bad"
- "Hard White" (music video)
- "Super Freaky Girl" (Roman Remix) and (Queen Mix)
- “Barbie World” (Music video Cameo)
- "Endless Fashion" (mentioned)
- "Big Foot"
Pictures of Roman
References
- ↑ "Nicki Minaj Reveals Her Favorite Alter Ego." Accessed August 6, 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nicki Minaj Calls The Streets Iz Watchin’ with DJ Drama Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ↑ Maraj, Onika. (@NICKIMINAJ). I've officially changed my name and will only respond....to Roman. Roman Zolanski. Out." Accessed August 6, 2012.
- ↑ Twitter: Yes Roman and I are twin sisters. "All I do is win rmx" is Me...Nicki. "Bottoms Up" is Roman. Sometimes we rap together :) Retrieved August 5, 2012.
- ↑ "Nicki Minaj Promises Debut Album This Year." Retrieved August 6, 2012.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Nicki Minaj 8 Quotables From Nicki’s ‘My Time Now’ Documentary Retrieved August 5, 2012.
- ↑ Twitter: He got a penile enlargement. So he's very cocky > RT @LETTERSTODREAM: @NICKIMINAJ what can we expect in your new album?! How is Roman?! Retrieved August 5, 2012.
- ↑ Twitter: I don't give 2 shits and a sack on the side... Sack of nuts that is... Belee dat. -Roman Retrieved August 5, 2012.
- ↑ Twitter: He's winding down... A very soothing, peaceful vibe. He's taken his meds ---> RT @pikingler: @NICKIMINAJ how is roman 2nite? Retrieved August 5, 2012.
- ↑ "Nicki Minaj Talks Grammy Performance W/ Ryan Seacrest, Tweets Response To Critics." Accessed August 6, 2012.
- ↑ Twitter: He will always love his mother > RT @LveYuNickiMinaj: @NICKIMINAJ Will roman and martha become friends again??? X Retrieved August 5, 2012.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Nicki Minaj Debuts Hybrid Character on 'Where Them Girls At'." Accessed August 6, 2012.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Nicki Minaj to Unleash New Music from Alter Ego Roman." Accessed May 13, 2012.
- ↑ YouTube. Nicki Minaj - Moment 4 Life (Clean Version) ft. Drake. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
- ↑ YouTube Nicki Minaj - Legend of Roman Retrieved May 14, 2019.
- ↑ Rap Genius Nicki Minaj – Wave Ya Hand Lyrics Retrieved June 24, 2013.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 YouTube Nicki Minaj talks about alter egos performs I am your leader and Beez in the Trap on the Today Show Retrieved October 28, 2012
- ↑ Nicki Minaj – Pound the Alarm Lyrics | Rap Genius Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ↑ Harper, Rosario. "Nicki Minaj Playfully Denies Trey Songz 'Bottoms Up' Collabo, 'That's Not Me, It's Roman Zolanski'." Retrieved May 13, 2012.
- ↑ The Real Daytime. "Nicki Minaj Plays a Game of Rapid-Fire." Retrieved December 19, 2014.
- ↑ Madonna – Give Me All Your Luvin Lyrics | Rap Genius Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ↑ Maraj, Onika. (@NICKIMINAJ). "yes, that is roman on monsta. mixed with barbie, & nicki. can u tell who's who?" Oct. 18, 2010, 3:45 PM. Tweet.