You see Nicki Minaj on the Internet posing and the first thing that might come to mind is porn star. You hear her high pitched voice and see her chocolate skin and you associate her with a fellow soprano rap phenomenon Foxy Brown. The fact is that we have seen much of Queens, NY female MC on the Internet and DVD’s lately. She has the body of a porn star and is often posing like one. Lastly, Lil Wayne was so impressed with her that he wanted to meet her and they even did a song called "Higher Than A Kite." You would think that a co-sign from Weezy F. Baby would be enough to calm the naysayers; however it appears that her judgment has just begun.
With that judgment comes the natural interest; who Nicki Minaj? Rap audiences do not know much about her besides the aforementioned. Nicki knows that she has peaked the curiosity of her peers and the tribunal audience members and is ready for the delay to end. Good news folks. It has.
AllHipHop.com: At one point you used to sing so what got you interested in rapping?
Nicki Minaj: I always liked rap. I used to beat on the tables in the lunchroom but I didn’t think I would ever be any good at it. I used to do it as a joke. When I asked one of the dudes I was singing for to let me spit. I did like 8 bars on the spot. I wrote it from the top of my head. He said he liked it. That was it. To be honest I never thought I would be a rapper. Once I did one and someone said it was good I felt like I could only get better. Also singing was so boring to me at that time. I didn’t want to be singing love songs. Rapping was so much more creative and I felt like I could just be myself.
AllHipHop.com: What brought you to the point where you decided you were going to pursue it professionally?
Nicki Minaj: I started rapping with a group. It was three guys and just me. I met them when I was just fazing into deciding whether I was going to rap. Being around them made me feel like I could do this. I would love to be with a crew like this. They gave me so much props. Before I left the group a lot of people would ask me why wasn’t I solo. Before that I was hiding behind the group. But then after three years I felt like I knew what I was doing. I just started thinking that I was loosing time rather than gaining time.
AllHipHop.com: You have a sexy image. Are you ever concerned that your image will over shadow your talent?
Nicki Minaj: I worry about that all the time. That’s why a lot of people waited so long for my second mixtape. I need people to know that I just started being this sexy Nicki Minaj. Prior to the last year I was just a rapper. A lyricist trying to figure out how to convey my thoughts into rap. Now all of a sudden the sex thing has taken off. The name and all that. When people don’t know me they think I’m a porn star.
AllHipHop.com: What made you go with the sexy image? You could have debuted being hard.
Nicki Minaj: Fendi. When he saw me, I had on regular jeans and sneakers. Fendi saw me and said you can take yourself to the next level if you show more sex appeal. I’m not going to lie, I was afraid to go that route. I wasn’t the girl in the club that walks around like that. Do you know what I’m saying?
AllHipHop.com: Yeah, I do. That’s not me either.
Nicki Minaj: Right! I feel like it’s an art. It started happening from the name. People just started to expect it. I guess I just gave people what they wanted.
AllHipHop.com: What do you think about being compared to Foxy Brown?
Nicki Minaj: I love Foxy Brown. I haven’t heard anybody flow like her. She definitely has got the hottest flow. As far as female rappers that I looked up to when I was coming up, I always admired her for her flow. So if I’m compared to her then that’s fine.
AllHipHop.com: What was so dope about her flow to you?
Nicki Minaj: That she was very precise. Whenever she rapped it sounded like she spit that shit over in her head a hundred times and she knows exactly how she wants to get it across. It doesn’t matter how many takes she has. I love that! I want it to sound the way I hear it in my head and I will do a thousand takes if it takes that.
AllHipHop.com: Female rappers like Foxy Brown, Lil Kim, and Trina; they all have a sexy image. What are you going to bring to the game that is going to make you an individual? What is it that they don’t bring to the game?
Nicki Minaj: I don’t see them being playfulness. I don’t see them bringing swag…Well I shouldn’t say swag.
AllHipHop.com: Yeah, I was going to say, some of them do have swag.
Nicki Minaj: I would just say the playfulness. I appeal to the younger crowd. I don’t take myself too seriously. Sometimes I feel like telling the other girls to loosen up. People want to be entertained at the end of the day. Everyone else is a female rappers but Nicki Minaj is an entertainer. I’m not only a rapper; I’m a singer, an actor, a writer. All those other things are going to come to life very soon.
AllHipHop.com: Do you mind me asking how old you are?
Nicki Minaj: I’m 23.
AllHipHop.com: Where do you get your material from?
Nicki Minaj: I get up and start writing. On my mixtapes its old beats that I always wanted to rap on. I wake up in the morning and something would come to my head and I will write it down and go back to it. Sometimes, I will go a week and it’s like I can’t be a rapper I can’t think of shit right now. But it comes. [laughs].
AllHipHop.com: How did you link up with Lil Wayne?
Nicki Minaj: Wayne saw me on the Come Up DVD. I was right after his section on the DVD. He made calls. Well one call to Fendi. He knew Fendi. I met him. He told me he wanted me to be the female face of Young Money.
AllHipHop.com: What were your thoughts when you heard that Lil Wayne wanted to meet you? Were you nervous?
Nicki Minaj: My thoughts were to scream to the top of my lungs and jump out of my seat and go crazy. [Laughs] I was like there is no way in hell that Lil Wayne likes me. I didn’t shop my demo to anybody. He saw me and liked me. What I love about him is that he didn’t need a co-sign from anybody to say yeah I f*ck with her. A lot of people jump on the bandwagon. Now that Lil Wayne cosigned me I got a lot of people saying they f*ck with me. He was just like I like her.
AllHipHop.com: What is it like working with him?
Nicki Minaj: It is like watching a superstar and hoping you learn as much as possible from him. He doesn’t write. He is very cocky and forces you to be cocky. He will tell you in a minute. I’m about to body you on this beat. We have a lot of friendly competitions but it’s good.
AllHipHop.com: What do you think is the most important thing you have learned from him?
Nicki Minaj: That anything is possible. When I think about it, he signed his first contract at eleven. Two years ago if you told somebody that Lil Wayne would have been in the same category or even stage as Jay-Z, they would have been like hell no.
AllHipHop.com: He did blow up.
Nicki Minaj: Exactly. I draw strength from that. Before Wayne, Jay-Z was my favorite rapper. But before people were even up on the Lil Wayne bandwagon I still loved him. He has a lot of hard work in. That’s another thing I have learned. He is still so hungry. His work ethic is so crazy. Who am I to say I’m tired and I don’t want to go to the studio.
AllHipHop.com: Will Young Money be your home? Or are you shopping for another record label?
Nicki Minaj: Young Money is my home. But you know… Umm…
AllHipHop.com: Take your time
Nicki Minaj: [Laughs] No. Young Money is my home.
AllHipHop.com: Have you signed with them?
Nicky Minaj: The negotiations have really gotten far. Its looks like 99 percent.
AllHipHop.com: How do you think your videos helped your career? It seems like the videos helped you stand out?
Nicki Minaj: Yes. It is a very visual thing. When people think of Nicki Minaj they think of my video. I think that with the videos, people get to see your personality.
AllHipHop.com: I was going to say that. The whole story you had going on in “Warning.” You’re acting was realistic. Even your body language.
Nicki Minaj: It was a mini movie. I studied acting for four years at LaGuardia. I was a drama major. People get to see my personality. There are a lot of closet cornballs because you can’t see them.
AllHipHop.com. The videos make you connect with your audience.
Nicki Minaj: Right! It was a low budget video but it was on point. I want people to feel like they know me. That is what was going on in Hip-Hop before. Like when people use to see Biggie in Brooklyn. Even though I’m not hood mentally, I still rep the females there.
AllHipHop.com: I want to touch on your sexy image again. Do you think that your image plays into the stereotypes of women being sexual objects?
Nicki Minaj: It does. I’m gonna get a lot of backlash from it. People are always going to have something to say. If I dressed another way they would say I look like a dude. If that what makes people ask who the hell is she? I’m cool with that because when you research me you will see that I have skills. I address that on my mixtape. I have what it takes. Whether it’s sexual or skills. It’s a lot of girls that could be sexy and still not garnish the attention I do. I add personality. I do it with Swag and style. It’s cool when I do it.
AllHipHop.com: I know you say you are expecting backlash. Do you have any kids? Do you worry about the reaction from your family about your image?
Nicki Minaj: I don’t have any kids. I would cry if my mother saw that picture to be honest. I had a conversation with Fendi before he put that picture out. Do you know which one I’m talking about?
AllHipHop.com: Is this the one where you are squatted down with your legs open and you have a lollipop?
Nicki Minaj: Yeah. At some point you have to decide whether you are going to do what you have to do.
AllHipHop.com: Do you think that was the only route you could have gone?
Nicki Minaj: Well, I could have but I’m doing what I feel works for me. I’m not worried about what anyone has to say. I also want to put it out there that I came from an abused home. My father was very abusive and my mother was very submissive. So, this is almost an outlet for me. I can be how I want free from worrying about judgment. I can be bold. I’m not a submissive woman. I’m doing this for me.
AllHipHop.com: What can we expect from you?
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