Nicki Minaj is gracing the cover of Billboard Magazine for the month of November 2010. Nicki recently sat for an interview with BILLBOARD Magazine to promote ‘PINK FRIDAY’.
Check out a few excerpts from her interview after the jump….
On her last job:
“The last job I had was as an office manager in a little, tiny room where I literally wanted to strangle this guy because he was so loud and obnoxious,” Minaj recalls. “I would go home with stress pains in my neck and my back. That’s when I went to my mother and said, ‘Look, I’m not going back to work.’ I’d been fired like 15 times because I had a horrible attitude. I worked at Red Lobster before that and I chased a customer out of the restaurant once so I could stick my middle finger up at her and demand that she give me my pen back. I swear to God I was bad.”
On being a NY rapper:
“When I started rapping, people were trying to make me like the typical New York rapper, but I’m not that,” Minaj says. “No disrespect to New York rappers, but I don’t want people to hear me and know exactly where I’m from. I wanted the album to be universal and versatile. It really feels like it speaks for every one of my personalities.”
On getting respect in a male-dominated field:
“When I do songs like “Monster,” when I’m on a record with Jay-Z and Kanye West, when I’m on a record with Wayne and Em — I definitely think the dudes give me respect,” Minaj says. “They haven’t come easy but I think people are starting to give me more props.”
On “Your Love”:
Although first official single “Your Love” reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the track wasn’t even meant to be released.
“I didn’t like the song and I didn’t put it out,” she says. “Someone stole it out of the studio and put it on the Internet and I cried because I was mortified. I was humiliated and remember telling Drake, ‘This is going to ruin my career.’ ” On her work ethic:
“I push people around me but I don’t push anyone more than I push myself,” she says. “I tell people all the time, ‘You want to work for me? You have to give 250,000%,’ because when I’m in the booth, I don’t half-ass it. I demand perfection from everyone around me and if you can’t live up to that, then bye-bye.”
The Young Money rapper will be releasing her debut album ‘Pink Friday’ on November 22nd.
Nicki Minaj is being featured in the latest issue of YRB magazine. Inside she addresses the haters and opens up about her life. The photos look DOPE!!
Check out some excerpts from her interview after the jump….
On “Monster” Being The Pivotal Moment In Her Career That has to be the breakout Nicki Minaj moment. That was my moment “People paid attention because of who was on it and because I held my own and I stayed true to my crazy animation, and it’s like I didn’t have to take my fun stuff out. I was able to incorporate Nicki Minaj on a record with Jay-Z and Kanye West. And I think people know that’s a difficult task in itself.”
On Female Rappers Who Don’t Support Her These girls aren’t mad at me. They’re mad at themselves,” she states, shooting down questions on why she never took Kim’s bait. “[It’s] jealousy, insecurity and being broke. When you haven’t capitalized and you see I’m about to capitalize on this sh*t like it’s never been done before, then you’re mad at yourself.
On being afraid to release her album I was so afraid to put out an album for fear of failure. I wanted to put my album out on Valentine’s Day of 2011. And my label was like, are you f*cking crazy?”
On ‘Pink Friday’ I know that ‘Pink Friday’ is a classic album. I have never been this proud of anything in my life,” she says. “I just think that it’s such a dynamic body of work. I’m no longer afraid to drop it. Now, I know it’s time…..
Here is a new track by Nicki Minaj titled, ” Roman’s Revenge” in which features none other than Eminem. Both artists dedicate some words to their critics over the Swizz Beatz-produced beat. The track will appear on Minaj’s much anticipated album ‘Pink Friday’, which is due November 22nd.
On Friday Nicki Minaj unveiled the new album cover for her highly anticipated debut album, ‘Pink Friday’. The album will now be released, Friday, November 22, which is actually one day earlier than it’s original set release date. It will now go head-to-head with Kanye West‘s, ‘Dark Twisted Fantasy World’.
Will you be buying Nicki’s Album or Kanye’s Album? Or both?
Kanye West announced the official album title on Tuesday morning (October 5) via his Twitter. The name has been floating around for some time in various rumor reports and blog postings, but in the shorter iteration of ‘Dark Twisted Fantasy’.
“The first song on the album is called “Dark Fantasy” produced by the RZA, co-produced by me and No I.D.” West added. “I ain’t letting no leaks have any [effect] on my song choices… “All of the Lights” is the next single, but wait till y’all hear the final!”
On Monday, West also confirmed the album’s release date, November 22. The project will arrive a day before Nicki Minaj‘s debut, ‘Pink Friday,’ and a number of other albums getting a jumpstart on the holiday shopping season.
The first two singles from ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ have already been released, “Power” and “Runaway,” featuring Pusha T.
Another track scheduled to appear on the project, “Lost in the World,” leaked online last week, leading West to announce he was canceling his weekly free “G.O.O.D. Fridays” music offering. But by Friday night, he recanted and delivered the sartorial “Christian Dior Denim Flow,” featuring John Legend, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Lloyd Banks and Ryan Leslie.
On Tuesday, West also assured fans of the G.O.O.D offerings that some of those songs would be included on the album too.
In other news….
Kanye West’s ‘Runaway’ London Screening Was A ‘Mad Event’
After showing ‘surreal’ film, West stuck around for two hours of Q&A, MTV UK reporter says. Kanye West invited a very select group of about 100 journalists and bloggers to the Wednesday-night London screening of his 35-minute art film for the song “Runaway.” Among them was MTV UK reporter Tom Thorogood, who got on the phone on Thursday morning (October 7) to talk about the typically over-the-top audience with the Louis Vuitton Don.
“It was a mad event,” Thorogood said of the screening, which included a rambling two-hour Q&A session during which West took any and all questions about the film and his upcoming albums. “Halfway through, an American guy from his label asked for one last question and just as the person asked it, Kanye said, ‘Why is this the last question?’ and said he was happy to talk as long as people wanted him to.”
Thorogood said there are perhaps only two dozen words spoken in the “ambitious … great looking” 35-minute art movie, whose narrative he described as “very loose and abstract.” If anything, he suspected it could be chopped up into five separate mind-bending music videos, though it only uses heavily altered snippets of West‘s music that are quite different from the versions of such songs as “Monster,” “Runaway” and the Bon Iver-sampling “Lost in the World” that fans have heard so far.
“It opens with shots of Kanye in a sports car and slow motion shots of deer and then you see a huge explosion and you see he’s crashed into the Phoenix,” said Thorogood of the other star of the film, model Selita Ebanks, who plays the Phoenix and who has been seen on ‘Ye’s arm at events lately. “He picks her up in his arms and walks away from the car which explodes behind him.” The title of the film then flashes on the screen and the first voice you hear is a snippet of Nicki Minaj‘s English-accented rhyme from “Monster.”
In another scene, Thorogood said you hear a brief bit of “Power,” which Kanye taps out on the same kind of MPC drum machine he played on both the VMAs and on “Saturday Night Live.” The three- to four-minute bit features Ebanks silently dancing around West as the song plays. “It was quite clear that [the movie is about] what he said about this before being about his story … a representation of his career,” Thorogood said.
And in a setup cued to the new song “Lights” that is likely to be the most iconic of the film, Thorogood said Kanye (a.k.a. “Griffin”) and the Phoenix watch as a marching band stomps across the screen carrying a giant, somewhat flimsy-looking papier-mâché model of Michael Jackson‘s head.
“With the passing of Michael Jackson, I feel a responsibility to bring things to our generation that can inspire and bring real culture to pop culture,” West told the audience in London about the film shot over four grueling days in Prague last month. “I want to use my power in a proper way.”
In another pivotal scene, West and the Phoenix arrive for a formal dinner at a huge table and are given weird looks by their fellow diners, one of whom asks, “Why didn’t you leave the monkey in the zoo?”
Thorogood said the film had French subtitles for the sparse dialogue, which were likely a holdover from Tuesday night’s screening in Paris, since West said the version he showed in London was still a rough cut. Among the other new songs featured in the movie is one called “Blame Game,” which contains a healthy sample of the melancholy piano groove in cult electronic musician Aphex Twin‘s 2001 song “Avril 14th,” as well as vocals from frequent ‘Ye collaborator John Legend, which the rapper said may or may not make the final cut of the album.
West introduced the film to his London audience by saying, ” ‘Purple Rain,’ [Pink Floyd’s] ‘The Wall,’ Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ — I wanted to do a modern version of that.” He also said that about “90 percent” of the music featured in the film appears on his upcoming fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, due out on November 22.
Plus….
Kanye West Adds M.I.A., La Roux And Alicia Keys To Album, ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,’ which might also feature Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Mos Def and Santigold.
It was the court of the Crimson King (remember the red suit at the VMAs?) on Wednesday in London as Kanye West spoke to a select group of journalists and bloggers about his upcoming “Runaway” mini-movie and accompanying album, ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,’ due out November 22.
In addition to screening the nearly wordless, trippy fantasia on the high prices of fame and individuality, ‘Ye also dropped some information on a number of the collaborators he’s got lined up for the album. According to our colleague Tom Thorogood of MTV UK, during a rambling two-hour Q&A session, West mentioned that he’s been in the studio with everyone from Alicia Keys to M.I.A., Kid Cudi, Mos Def and Santigold working on tracks for Fantasy.
He also confirmed that Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon is “all over” the album, a fact we already learned when a demo of “Lost in the World” recently leaked, which features re-recorded vocals from the BI track “Woods.” The pair reportedly recorded at least nine tracks together, and West has said Vernon is slated to appear on multiple songs.
Among the other new tracks featured in the movie is “Blame Game,” which contains a healthy sample of the melancholy piano groove in cult electronic musician Aphex Twin’s 2001 song “Avril 14th,” as well as vocals from frequent ‘Ye collaborator John Legend, which may or may not make the album’s final cut. Other collaborators who’ve dropped in on sessions include Wu-Tang mastermind RZA and hip-hop icon Pete Rock.
NME also reports that West said the album could feature vocals from La Roux‘s flame-haired frontwoman, Elly Jackson, as well as Chicago hip-hop don producer No ID.
‘Ye also said he’s traveling back to France soon — he debuted the film there Tuesday — to finish work on his mini-album with Jay-Z, ‘Watch the Throne’.
And, in typically epic Kanye fashion, the Chicago MC said he’s planning a spectacular live show for the “Fantasy tour”, which he wants to wind up in front of the Egyptian pyramids. Unfortunately, he told the crowd, they’re not available until April.
Which Kanye collabo are you most excited about?
Listen to Kanye West ft. Drake – “All Of The Lights (Ghetto University)” below….
Nicki Minaj doesn’t even have an album out yet, but she was one of the biggest winners at the 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards, which were taped on Saturday, October 2 in Atlanta for an upcoming broadcast. The Young Money rapper took home Rookie of the Year, People’s Champ, and Made You Look (style) awards,MTV News reports.
Fitted to kill in a black dominatrix-like outfit, NYC-ish blond bob hairdo, pink nails and lipstick, Minaj grabbed her awards and “ran.” Minaj made sure to thank her “Barbies” as she accepted the award for “Favorite By Fans.”
“Last year, I was here in anticipation of the cypher,” she told the crowd, referring to the artist rap freestyles that run in between the award presentations and performances. “Now I’m here in anticipation of my debut. [‘Pink Friday’, set for release November 23.]
“I’m paving the way for girls,” she continued. “I wanna thank all the girls of hip-hop.”
Jay-Z, who was not in attendance at the awards, was also able to bag three awards. Tied Minaj’s award total, taking home trophies in the categories of Perfect Combo (Alicia Keys duet “Empire State of Mind”), CD of the Year, and Best Live Performer. Other awards went to Rick Ross(Club Banger of the Year and Track of the Year for producer Lex Luger, both for “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)”), Salt-N-Pepa(I Am Hip-Hop), Diddy (Hustler), Swizz Beatz(Producer of the Year), and DJ Khaled(Best DJ).
Now let me remind you, the 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards kicked off on quite the high note as Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, and Diddy opened with “B.M.F.,” one of the year’s biggest hits. To the surprise of those in the audience Ross‘ set then segued into an unexpected performance from MC Hammer, who danced frantically with a group of dancers as he performed ‘2 Legit 2 Quit.’
The 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards welcomed a number of newcomer’s including Alabama’s own Yelawolf who performed alongside Big Boi for their hit song “You Ain’t No DJ.”
“I feel overwhelmed, you know, coming out with Big Boi from OutKast and doing our record. I never thought it would lead to here, but I’m taking it in. I’m happy and I’m honored to be a part of it,” Yelawolf explained to The BoomBox.
The Hip-Hop Awards cypher’s proved yet again to be one of the highlights of the show with a number of artists taking part in this Hip-Hop Awards staple. Kanye West gave folks a taste of G.O.O.D. Music with a cypher that featured verses from himself, Common, Big Sean, Pusha T, and Cyhi Da Prynce.Ice Cube and Rev. Run kept it all in the family with a cypher that consisted of performances from Diggy Simmons, JoJo Simmons, OMG, and Doughboy.
More images from the performances below and after the cut.
This year’s 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards, hosted by Mike Epps, will air Oct. 12 at 8 P.M. on BET. Will you be tuning in? Which award categories are you most looking forward to seeing televised?
JNEL & J. Magazine 