When Nicki Turns the Temperature Down

Most of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded runs loud—all costume changes and rapid-fire flows and Roman Zolanski screaming from somewhere inside the tracklist. "The Boys," featuring Cassie, is the exception: cooler, more lateral, built around a groove that doesn’t need to announce itself. Nicki does something interesting when she slows down like this. The arrogance is still there but it’s wearing different clothes—less theatrical, more certain. Cassie’s presence is minimal and exactly right.