This was also a very humbling interview for Nicki Minaj who expressed that she felt as though she had to represent black women and Hip Hop right when she snagged the job on American Idol, and also revealed why she chose to do a budget-friendly line at KMart versus collaborating on a clothing line that none of her fans would have been able to afford. She also revealed that at one point she feared losing the connection with her fans as her fame continued to rise and she had to ground herself and take a step back.
Peep the highlights below:
On her time on “American Idol”
It was scary. It was real scary. Just being a black woman, too, and being apart of hip hop, I kind of feel like I’m always on the bottom of the totem pole. I’m on the bottom of every totem pole I feel like, really, in terms of proving yourself. In terms of showing that you’re intelligent and you can carry on a conversation and you can speak about many different topics. So I felt like I was kind of representing for so many different people. Rap and then black women and then women in general being on “Idol.” I made a mental note…I just didn’t want it to come across as a caricature of Nicki Minaj. I wanted it to be the human being. The Onika Tanya Maraj that nobody ever really speaks to. And that’s what I found. I found that a lot of people come up to me and say, ‘You’re a real person. You’re kind of like a regular person with real thoughts and stuff.’ I was like, ‘Well, thank you.’ “Idol” was great in it gave me the opportunity to show that.
That’s what I took away from it. I see these people giving their all and crying and breaking down and this is their dream. Sometimes you take for granted what you have and it was a good way to see just to be thankful from where you are.
On her love for Queen Latifah
You’ve opened so many doors for me and so many other women and it’s insane because I always reference you when I always talk about female rappers who have paved the way in terms of a business woman and mogul and all around entertainer. To be sitting here doing your show is just a great moment for hip hop, so thank you for having me.
On being one of the leading [female] forces in hip hop
I don’t know. I just take it one day at a time. I always want more so I’m one of those people that are just like, if you give me a compliment, in the back of my mind I’m just like, ‘Yeah right, whatever.’ I never think, ‘Yeah I’m where I wanna be,’ so it’s weird. I don’t know if one day I’m gonna sit back and be like, ‘Oh, I was doing my thing.’ Right now I just feel like there’s a lot of work that needs to be done and I want to inspire my fans to never stop. I don’t like feeling like we did it. We’re done. We made it.
On proving herself in a male dominated industry
It’s been crazy because most of the program directors for instance on hip hop radio are men. And I’ve had conversations with these people like, ‘You know what, I can’t relate to a female rapper. I don’t want to hear my female rapping.’ Cause rap is such a braggadocios…so a lot of guys don’t really want to see a woman like that. And I find with even women, we want to hear a male rapper more than we want to hear a female rapper. It’s crazy, but I don’t think that’s ever going to change.
On running things in her camp and all of her businesses
I have this Mix Moscato. It’s really good. I wish you guys could taste it. It’s so good.
I have a clothing line with KMart and that was really hard for me because I tussled with that decision. My inspiration was a lot of the dresses on “Idol” that I wore, they were super expensive and my fans were like, ‘Where’d you get that?’ But they couldn’t necessarily afford it because they’re in college or whatever. So I wanted to create dresses that I would wear. They’re free flowing and they’re pretty and you can kind of dress it up however you want to.
On if her fans helped her design her KMart line
Absolutely. They were like, ‘I hate that’ or ‘I love that.’ I really am doing it for them. I want them to feel a connection because I feel like as an entertainer you kind of lose connection with your fans if you get too successful sometimes because the stuff I could talk to them about, maybe I’ve grown out of it and maybe they can no longer relate. Sometimes you need to step back and be like, ‘Whoa let me get back grounded.’ I felt like the clothing line, having something they can afford, was another way to get that bond back with them.
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