Nicki Minaj is a great many things and sometimes it’s tiring for her. But now she’s pulling it together by not giving a fuck anymore, even as companies like Apple and Spotify are boasting parental advisory stickers over her butt.
Over at The Fader, Nicki sat down with Carrie Battan and that admitted her beginnings were a little tumultuous.
“I think early on in my career, I was… I was… just a little bit crazy,” she says, lightly smacking her chewing gum. “I took everything personally. That’s just not good, and it’s not healthy.” These days, she works hard to keep herself in check. “I think one of my best attributes now, as a businesswoman and an artist and a professional person, is being able to think before I speak,” she adds. “I’ve learned that everything I think doesn’t necessarily need to be stated.”
But when she does state her thoughts, like say on whether Iggy Azalea writes her own “Fancy” lyrics, she likes to keep the waters murky. Thinly veiled shots are shade of the best kind; you don’t have to tell a person they’re terrible if they already know they’re terrible. As for her own crossover into the pop world, it’s been a process.
“Looking back now, I love that I was pushed to reinvent myself,” she says, “because when I sit back and I really look, I need hip-hop, and hip-hop needs me.”
Thanks to her “Anaconda” song, blending the 1980s influence of early rappers like JJ Fad with the beats and sexual lyrics of Sir Mix-A-Lot, Too Short, and yes, Lil’ Kim, the convergence of hip-hop and pop that keeps all of her fans happy might not be too far off. But all of this success is merely an offshoot of Nicki’s self-proclaimed real goal: taking over the world as a black woman.
The way she sees it, everything she does—even when it softens the impact of her underlying talent—ultimately serves a higher purpose: to achieve greater visibility for young black women in pop culture, plain and simple. When asked if she’s ever considered dialing back on any of the extracurriculars, Nicki is firm. “Helllllll no,” she says. Rap cannot contain her music, and neither can any one pursuit contain Nicki’s ambition. “I’ve done things where people are like, ‘Uhhhh,'” she says, making a theatrically perplexed face. “But every time I do a business venture or something that isn’t the norm for a female rapper, I pat myself on the back. It’s important that corporate America can see a young black woman being able to sell things outside of music.” Then she mentions that she’s planning a deal with the Home Shopping Network, and her eyes grow huge: “A female rapper! With HSN!”
In other news, Nicki’s ass is too much for Apple and Spotify. The companies are using an image of her voluptuous bum covered with a parental advisory sticker. It’s standard record label practice to service two images, safe and not-so-safe, to stores like Apple or Walmart who have kiddie customers. Still, do black women need parental advisory stickers for the beach too? What about just walking down the street? How will people protect themselves?!
Image via Apple.