In the world of hip-hop, there's one MC's name on everyone's lips at the moment: Nicki Minaj. Although the cartoonish rapper - who sports giant pink wings and outfits that would make Lady Gaga jealous - released her debut album, Pink Friday, only a couple of months ago, she's made a name for herself fast. She is championed by Lil Wayne; works with Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna and Eminem; and is the first woman to be included on MTV's "Hottest MC" list.
Minaj's style is brash, playful and tough at the same time. She channels a series of alter egos, including "Harajuku Barbie" and "Roman Zolanksi", but there's more to her than cutesy schtick. She's not afraid to ruffle feathers: in a song called Roman's Revenge she mocks older rappers and their bids for respect, saying "now I'm a wrap your coffin with a bow".
She may not back out of a scrap with another MC, but Minaj is happy about the fact that her rocketing profile is throwing open the doors to a new generation of women. "I realise that when this album does well there are doors that will be kicked open for female rappers immediately," she said in an interview with the Guardian at the time of Pink Friday's launch. "I always wanted to be someone who spearheaded a movement, not just did something that worked for me. I want to get girls excited about being female rappers again." And it seems to be happening. The New York Times called Minaj "the most important new female voice in hip-hop since Missy Elliott". She is also touring with Lil Wayne this spring.
Although a glance through the charts shows that male rappers are still outnumbering their female counterparts by far, there are plenty of other women around showing that you don't need a Y chromosome to work a mike. In the UK, the Londoner Lady Sovereign was the big success story a few years ago (who said that she, in turn, was inspired by Ms Dynamite, the first female MC she'd heard), alongside Speech DeBelle, who won the prestigious Mercury prize in 2009. Over in the US, the Nashville-raised starlet Ke$ha, who raps more than she sings on her latest EP, Cannibal, will continue to make headlines this year as she embarks on her first world tour.
Ke$ha's music is much chirpier and more accessible than Minaj's - it's pop, not hip-hop - but it can be seen as a sign that female rappers have been embraced by the mainstream. And although, like a lot of women who MC, she plays up to a male audience with pouts and photo shoots, a couple of her songs provide a challenge to stereotypical male rapper behaviour.
With more minimal beats and lo-fi production, the Baltimore rapper Rye Rye isn't going for the same market as self-described party girl Ke$ha, but she's got the potential to blow up too. Championed by MIA, who's become a household name for mashing up indie, hip-hop, world music and electro, Rye Rye's sound is similarly DIY-sounding, but it's got a more conventional, fast-talking swagger to the vocals. Although the release of her first album, Go! Pop! Bang!, has been pushed back a couple of times (it's slated to come out this spring), she's got a mixtape, RYEot PowRR, coming out soon, and you can watch a video for her song Sunshine, featuring MIA, online.
Chris Bowman, who runs a website called femalerappers.net from his home in Louisville because, in his words: "I feel like the media doesn't give the same opportunity to female rappers as they do male rappers," is a fan of Rye Rye and will be interviewing her later this year. He also rates Patwa, a rapper born in the Bronx to Jamaican parents, who released a mixtape called One Gyal Army in December. On What Can I Say, the single now out on Higher Heights music, she raps over reggae-inflected beats, with plenty of hip-hop attitude, but without playing the gender card. "I don't see her slowing down anytime soon", Bowman told me in an e-mail exchange.
"The success that Nicki Minaj has had this past year has had an astounding impact for femcees," he added, and pointed to her two million Twitter followers as an example of how women are expanding their fan base online. Labels and recording studios may be male-dominated, but anyone can put out a mixtape on blogs, make a MySpace page, put together a video for YouTube and spread the word on Twitter and Facebook. "Now women can be taken more seriously from within the [hip-hop] community," Bowman said, "because they mean business and they have the fan base to back it up."
It's also a good time for fans of more established "femcees". Philadelphia rapper Eve, who's been taking some time out to star in the films xXx, Whip It and the television series Glee, is back with a new album, Lip Lock, this May. It will feature contributions by Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Dr Dre and Shakira and is reported to be more upbeat than her previous work. As for the trailblazer Lil' Kim, who hit the big time a decade and a half ago with the help of The Notorious BIG, she is releasing a mixtape called Black Friday on Valentine's Day this year, while she continues to work on a new album with Dr Dre and 50 Cent.
It's easy to see Lil' Kim as a forerunner of Minaj, and the two tried to work together last year, but they fell out during the process and the lyrics on Minaj's Roman's Revenge are thought to be targeted at Kim. Kim retaliated at a live show on New Year's Eve, in a rant that included the phrase "you ain't taking nothing from me!"
Beef like this, of course, only fuels publicity and record sales, and when it's with an artist as high profile as Lil' Kim, it can only be seen as flattering.
Minaj and her generation have an exciting future ahead of them, so keep your eye on the blogs, on YouTube and on Twitter to see who's going to make the next leap out of the underground.
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Milkman by Anna Burns
Ordinary People by Diana Evans
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Circe by Madeline Miller
Company profile
Company: Eighty6
Date started: October 2021
Founders: Abdul Kader Saadi and Anwar Nusseibeh
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Hospitality
Size: 25 employees
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investment: $1 million
Investors: Seed funding, angel investors
Results
5.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m
Winner Spirit Of Light, Clement Lecoeuvre (jockey), Erwan Charpy (trainer)
6.05pm Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner Bright Start, Pat Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor
6.40pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (D) 2,000m
Winner Twelfthofneverland, Nathan Crosse, Satish Seemar
7.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh85,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Imperial Empire, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
7.50pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 2,000m
Winner Record Man, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
8.25pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (D) 1,600m
Winner Celtic Prince, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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How to vote in the UAE
1) Download your ballot https://www.fvap.gov/
2) Take it to the US Embassy
3) Deadline is October 15
4) The embassy will ensure all ballots reach the US in time for the November 3 poll
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
Company%20Profile
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
65
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
THE RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Alnawar, Connor Beasley (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Raniah, Noel Garbutt, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 2,200m
Winner: Saarookh, Richard Mullen, Ana Mendez
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown (PA) Rated Conditions Dh125,000 1,600m
Winner: RB Torch, Tadhg O’Shea, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Al Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: MH Wari, Antonio Fresu, Elise Jeane
7.30pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,600m
Winner: Mailshot, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
